Thiamin deficiency in cats and dogs associated with feeding meat preserved with sulphur dioxide

Thiamin deficiency was diagnosed in cats and dogs being fed fresh minced meat, which contained sulphur dioxide as a preservative and less than 0.5 mg/kg thiamin. Thiamin in the meat and in added dietary ingredients, including a supplementary vitamin mixture, was destroyed by the sulphur dioxide.     

Unguided bronchoalveolar lavage techniques and residual effects in dogs

Objectives To investigate the use of unguided bronchoalveolar lavage techniques in dogs without fibreoptic bronchoscopy, using an adapted single vascular catheter and a double-lumen catheter made from two single vascular catheters.
Animals Sixty-nine dogs were examined with the single-catheter technique and 110 dogs with the double-catheter technique.
Design A prospective study.
Procedure Sixty-nine and 220 samples, collected with the single catheter and the double catheter respectively, were examined cytologically Lungs of 69 dogs were examined grossly and histologically. Radiographic examination was performed on 11 dogs.
Results The double-catheter technique produced samples with significantly higher cellularity (P < 0.01) and fewer red blood cells (P < 0.01) than the single-catheter technique. Repeat samples collected with a double catheter were not significantly different (P > 0.01) in any value. A reference range for nucleated cell counts of 62 to 1210 – 10⁶/L was calculated from 57 clinically and histologically normal dogs. The major residual effects of the technique were localised pulmonary oedema, and alveolar distension with collapse and congestion of distant parenchyma. Thoracic radiographs revealed increased lung opacity for at least up to 7 h after the procedure.
Conclusions The cellularity of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid obtained was adequate and sufficient fluid was retrieved when the single catheter was located in a proper position. However, the double catheter obtained better samples more quickly and easily, with less damage to the respiratory tract.     

Superovulatory Response of Zebu Cows Treated with pFSH in a Single Subcutaneous Injection Followed by an Additional Intramuscular Sub‐Dose 48 h Later

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether an additional intramuscular (im) injection of pFSH would increase the embryo production in zebu cows superovulated with a single subcutaneous (sc) pFSH injection. Twenty‐one Nelore cows were treated with a progesterone vaginal implant (Controlled Internal Drug Relased – CIDR B^®) and injected im with 2.5 mg estradiol benzoate. Four days later, cows were assigned randomly into three groups and superovulated with pFSH. Groups A and B received single sc injections of 400 and 320 IU, respectively; Group C received multiple im injections of 400 IU in decreasing doses at 12‐h intervals over 4 days. In the morning (07:00 am) of day 3 after starting superovulation, cows received im 150 mcg cloprostenol and Group B was additionally injected im with 80 IU of pFSH. CIDR‐B was withdrawn in the afternoon (07:00 pm). Cows were inseminated 48 and 62 h after the cloprostenol injection. Embryo collection and corpora lutea (CL) estimation were done 7 days after insemination. Alternation of treatments (crossover design) occurred at a 60‐day interval. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) of CL counts among treatments. The total (transferable and no transferable) number of recovered embryos from Group A (6.9 ± 1.5) was not different from Group C (9.8 ± 1.2), whereas Group B (5.7 ± 1.5) was lower than Group C (p < 0.05). The number of transferable embryos from Groups A (2.4 ± 0.7) and B (1.7 ± 0.6) was lower (p < 0.05) than Group C (4.6 ± 1.2). Lesser (p < 0.05) embryo production from Group B was related to lower recovery rate (46.4%), compared with Groups A (65.1%) and C (81.7%). It was concluded that an additional im subdose of pFSH, injected 48 h after a single subcutaneous (sc) dose of pFSH, does not improve the embryo production in zebu cows.     

Effect of the route of administration on the mucosal and systemic immune responses to Lawsonia intracellularis vaccine in pigs

In an on‐farm study, 40 weaned piglets aged 3 weeks were vaccinated with Lawsonia intracellularis vaccine orally, IM or IP while a fourth group remained unvaccinated. All vaccinated animals showed increased serum levels of L. intracellularis‐specific IgG antibodies, but significantly elevated concentrations of specific IgG, IgA and cytokines were generated in ileal mucosal secretions from the orally and IP vaccinated pigs when examined at 17 days after vaccination.     

Anomalous water: attempts at high-pressure synthesis

The high density, 1.4 grams per cubic centimeter, reported for anomalous water suggests that high pressures should be conducive to the formation of anomalous water. Six attempts at 60 kilobars in which water was cooled from about 600 degrees C in nickel or platinum tubes, with or without the presence of silica, did not produce any detectable amounts of anomalous water.     

Direct observations of structural phase transitions in planar crystallized ion plasmas

Laser-cooled 9Be+ ions confined in two-dimensionally extended lattice planes were directly observed, and the images were used to characterize the structural phases of the ions. Five different stable crystalline phases were observed, and the energetically favored structure could be sensitively tuned by changing the areal density of the confined ions. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical predictions for the planar (infinite in two dimensions) one-component plasma. Qualitatively similar structural phase transitions occur, or are predicted to occur, in other experimentally realizable planar systems.