Urinary catecholamine and metanephrine to creatinine ratios in healthy dogs at home and in a hospital environment and in 2 dogs with pheochromocytoma

BACKGROUND: Measurement of high concentrations of urine catecholamines and metanephrines is useful in diagnosing pheochromocytoma in humans. Stress increases catecholamine excretion in urine. HYPOTHESIS: Stress of a hospital visit increases urinary catecholamine and metanephrine excretion in dogs. ANIMALS: Fourteen clinically normal dogs, 2 dogs with pheochromocytoma. METHODS: Voided urine samples were collected by the owners 7 days before (t-7), during the hospital visit immediately after diagnostic procedures (t0), as well as 1 (t1) and 7 days (t7) after the hospital visit. Urine catecholamine and metanephrine concentrations were measured using high-pressure liquid chromatography and expressed as ratios to urine creatinine concentration. RESULTS: In client-owned dogs epinephrine and norepinephrine ratios at t0 were significantly higher compared with ratios at t7. Metanephrine and normetanephrine ratios at t-7, t0, and t1 did not differ significantly from each other; however, at t7 they were significantly lower compared to values at t-7. In staff-owned dogs no significant differences were detected among the different collecting time points for any variable. Metanephrine and normetanephrine ratios were significantly higher in client-owned dogs compared to staff-owned dogs at t-7, t0, and t1 but not at t7. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Stress associated with a hospital visit and with the sampling procedure causes increases in urine catecholamine and metanephrine excretion. Urine collection for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma probably should take place at home after adaptation to the sampling procedure.     

Demonstrating freedom from disease using multiple complex data sources 2: case study--classical swine fever in Denmark

A method for quantitative evaluation of surveillance for disease freedom has been presented in the accompanying paper (Martin et al., 2007). This paper presents an application of the methods, using as an example surveillance for classical swine fever (CSF) in Denmark in 2005. A scenario tree model is presented for the abattoir-based serology component of the Danish CSF surveillance system, in which blood samples are collected in an ad hoc abattoir sampling process, from adult pigs originating in breeding herds in Denmark. The model incorporates effects of targeting (differential risk of seropositivity) associated with age and location (county), and disease clustering within herds. A surveillance time period of one month was used in the analysis. Records for the year 2005 were analysed, representing 25,332 samples from 3528 herds; all were negative for CSF-specific antibodies. Design prevalences of 0.1-1% of herds and 5% of animals within an infected herd were used. The estimated mean surveillance system component (SSC) sensitivities (probability that the SSC would give a positive outcome given the animals processed and that the country is infected at the design prevalences) per month were 0.18, 0.63 and 0.86, for among-herd design prevalences of 0.001, 0.005 and 0.01. The probabilities that the population was free from CSF at each of these design prevalences, after a year of accumulated negative surveillance data, were 0.91, 1.00 and 1.00. Targeting adults and herds from South Jutland was estimated to give approximately 1.9, 1.6 and 1.4 times the surveillance sensitivity of a proportionally representative sampling program for these three among-herd design prevalences.     

Fertility of Holstein cows and heifers submitted to timed artificial insemination and receiving one or two doses (12 h apart) of semen

The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the effect of receiving a single (n = 50,285) or double (n = 4392) artificial insemination (AI), 12 h apart, within a timed artificial insemination protocol on pregnancy per AI (P/AI) in nulliparous heifers (inseminated with either sex-sorted or conventional semen) and pluriparous Holstein cows in a commercial dairy herd. Also, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between temperature-humidity index (THI) and time of the first AI and fertility. Fertility of cows receiving two AI with normothermia (THI <68) was higher (p < .05) than cows receiving a single AI (42.9% vs. 36.4%). P/AI of cows receiving two AI with severe heat stress (THI >85) was higher (p < .05) than cows receiving a single AI (21.0% vs. 12.6%). Regardless of heat stress conditions, applying the first AI in the morning increased (p < .05) P/AI in cows with double AI than in cows whose first AI occurred in the afternoon (38.4 vs. 33.3%). With moderate heat stress, and sexed-sorted semen, P/AI to timed AI was higher (65.0 vs. 51.9%; p < .05) in heifers receiving double AI than those serviced once. It was concluded that double AI, 12 h apart, enhanced fertility at timed AI than herd mates with a single AI, particularly with heat stress at breeding.     

Genomic prediction for meat and carcass traits in Nellore cattle using a Markov blanket algorithm

This study was carried out to evaluate the advantage of preselecting SNP markers using Markov blanket algorithm regarding the accuracy of genomic prediction for carcass and meat quality traits in Nellore cattle. This study considered 3675, 3680, 3660 and 524 records of rib eye area (REA), back fat thickness (BF), rump fat (RF), and Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF), respectively, from the Nellore Brazil Breeding Program. The animals have been genotyped using low-density SNP panel (30 k), and subsequently imputed for arrays with 777 k SNPs. Four Bayesian specifications of genomic regression models, namely Bayes A, Bayes B, Bayes Cπ and Bayesian Ridge Regression methods were compared in terms of prediction accuracy using a five folds cross-validation. Prediction accuracy for REA, BF and RF was all similar using the Bayesian Alphabet models, ranging from 0.75 to 0.95. For WBSF, the predictive ability was higher using Bayes B (0.47) than other methods (0.39 to 0.42). Although the prediction accuracies using Markov blanket of SNP markers were lower than those using all SNPs, for WBSF the relative gain was lower than 13%. With a subset of informative SNPs markers, identified using Markov blanket, probably, is possible to capture a large proportion of the genetic variance for WBSF. The development of low-density and customized arrays using Markov blanket might be cost-effective to perform a genomic selection for this trait, increasing the number of evaluated animals, improving the management decisions based on genomic information and applying genomic selection on a large scale.     

A comparative description of two farmer-managed irrigation systems in Nepal

The organization of two farmer-managed irrigation systems in the western hills of Nepal is described by examining the ways in which the activities of water allocation, water distribution, maintenance, and resource mobilization are performed. Due to the topography and environment, these two organizations are structured primarily to mobilize the large amount of labor required for maintenance of the intake and canal. Both organizations precisely define each member's water allocation. In one system, water is allocated in proportion to the area of an individual's land holding, while in the other water allocation is by purchased shares. These two cases were used to analyze the importance of the principle of water allocation for expansion of area irrigated and equity of access to irrigation. Evidence from the two systems shows that in this hill environment water allocation by purchased shares provides the individual incentive and an organizational mechanism for efficient development of irrigation resources. Expansion of area irrigated and equity of access to irrigation were found to be greater in the system which allocates water by purchased shares than where water was allocated in proportion to area irrigated.     

The impact of increasing farm size and mechanization on rural income and rice production in Zhejiang province,China

Economic growth in China’s agricultural sector lags behind growth in industry and services, creating an ever widening rural–urban income gap. Development of the non-agricultural sectors offers new opportunities for farmers in China’s more advanced provinces such as Zhejiang. Increased income in the urban sector creates markets for new products, and migrating farmers rent their land to those staying. Until now, the prevailing rice-based systems have been managed mainly using manual labour and animal traction, but the larger farms resulting from migration may facilitate, or even require mechanization. In this study, we use a simulation model of the farm household to analyse the effects of increasing farm size and the transition from rice to vegetable production, while also studying the effects of mechanization.