SNOMED representation of explanatory knowledge in veterinary clinical pathology

BACKGROUND: The Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) is an established standard nomenclature for the expression of human and veterinary medical concepts. Nomenclature standards ease sharing of medical information, create common points of understanding, and improve data aggregation and analysis. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine whether SNOMED adequately represented concepts relevant to veterinary clinical pathology. METHODS: Concepts were isolated from 3 different types of clinical pathology documents: 1) a textbook (Textbook), 2) the Results sections of industry pathology reports (Findings), and Discussion sections from industry pathology reports (Discussion). Concepts were matched (mapped) by 2 reviewers to semantically-equivalent SNOMED concepts. A quality score of 3 (good match), 2 (problem match), or 1 (no match) was recorded along with the SNOMED hierarchical location of each mapped concept. Results were analyzed using Cohen's Kappa statistic to assess reviewer agreement and chi-square tests to evaluate association between document type and quality score. RESULTS: The percentage of good matches was 48.3% for the Textbook, 45.4% for Findings, and 47.5% for Discussion documents, with no significant difference among documents. Of remaining concepts, 40% were partially expressed by SNOMED and 14% did not match. Mean reviewer agreement on quality score assignments was 76.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Although SNOMED representation of veterinary clinical pathology content was limited, missing and problem concepts were confined to a relatively small area of terminology. This limitation should be addressed in revisions of SNOMED to optimize SNOMED for veterinary clinical pathology applications.     

Microsomal oxidase activities in relation to age and chlorcyclizine induction in American cockroach,Periplaneta americana,fat body,midgut and hindgut

Female adult American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana L., showed definite age-dependent changes in levels of activity of the microsomal mixed-function oxidases. Cytochrome P-450 levels, EPN-detoxication, and p-nitroanisole O-demethylation activities were very low in young adult insects but increased steadily reaching a natural peak at about 100 days in fat body and at about 90 days in midgut and hindgut. The activities then declined rapidly reaching levels of young insects at about 130 to 140 days of age. NADPH-neotetrazolium-reductase activity was high in young insects, declined later in adult life, and returned to a peak at about 100 days.Injections of chlorcyclizine, a known microsomal enzyme inducer, significantly increased levels of cytochrome P-450, EPN-detoxication, p-nitroanisole O-demethylation, and NADPH-NT-reductase activities in young cockroaches. The drug injections were effective, however, only before the natural activity peak was reached. Beyond this point the injections had no inductive effect indicating that the microsomal oxidases in this insect are uninducible when normal enzyme levels are falling.NADPH-NT-reductase activity in male cockroaches, while being somewhat higher than in females, showed a similar age-dependent curve with the peak occurring at about 120 days.Age-dependent carbaryl resistance in male and female insects tended to follow levels of the microsomal oxidase activities. Fifty to 60-day-old insects, however, tended to be more resistant to the insecticide than microsomal enzyme levels would indicate.RNA levels of normal female insects showed age-dependent curves similar to those of the microsomal enzyme activities, being low in young adults and reaching a peak at about 100 days. Chlorcyclizine injections had little or no effect on total microsomal RNA levels.     

Angiofibroma of the nasal cavity in 13 dogs

This case series describes a rare entity, nasal angiofibroma, in 13 dogs that were presented to the University of Wisconsin, School of Veterinary Medicine from 1988 to 2000. All dogs in this case series presented with clinical signs and radiographic changes that were strongly suggestive of a locally invasive neoplasm. However, histopathology completed on transnostral core biopsy samples revealed benign appearing vascular proliferation with secondary lymphosuppurative inflammation was established despite cytologic criteria of malignancy present in five dogs. On the basis of the outcomes in this case series, nasal angiofibroma should be considered a differential for dogs presenting with clinical signs consistent with a malignant nasal tumour.     

Erythrogram and red cell distribution width of Equidae with experimentally induced anemia

The erythrogram (erythrocyte histogram) and red cell distribution width (RDW) were evaluated in 5 purebred horses and 1 pony of mixed breeding with experimentally induced anemia. Four horses were studied for 6 weeks after 20% of their estimated blood volume was removed on each of 2 consecutive days (40% total blood loss; acute blood-loss group). Two horses were given acetylphenyl hydrazine IV daily, until acute Heinz body hemolytic anemia was induced; the 2 horses were then evaluated for 6 weeks. One horse and the pony had 20% of their estimated blood volume removed via phlebotomy once each week for 8 weeks to induce iron-deficiency anemia (chronic blood-loss group); the horse had been partially depleted of iron before the study began. Weekly blood samples were examined for changes in the erythrogram, RDW, mean cell volume (MCV), and erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. Fourteen days after acute blood loss, mild increases were seen in the MCV, which persisted to day 42. The RDW was increased at day 14 and remained increased until day 42; however, the percentage increase was double that of the MCV at days 14, 21, and 28. Erythrograms had mild extensions of the right slope at days 14 to 28. Mean erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity increased in all 3 groups, but individual concentrations were erratic. In the 2 horses with acute hemolytic anemia, modest increases of similar magnitude were seen in RDW and MCV.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Bilateral aural hyalohyphomycosis in sable antelope (Hippotragus niger).

Three juvenile sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) were diagnosed with bilateral aural hyalohyphomycosis based on histopathology. All three animals were suspected to be immunodeficient based on low IgG levels determined using the zinc sulfate turbidity test. The serum and hepatic copper levels of one animal were below the bovine reference range. Clinical signs in the three animals included bilateral ventral deviation of the pinnae with multifocal subcutaneous aural tumefaction and poor body condition. Numerous septate, nonpigmented fungal hyphae were found within the auricular cartilage, dermis, and subcutaneous granulomas. No significant fungal agents were isolated by culture, and no signs of systemic fungal dissemination were identified except for a concurrent fungal rhinitis in one animal.     

Changes in the competence of Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’ to grow in vitro as affected by seedling rootstocks and differential pruning

Three physiologically distinct forms of the same genotype of Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’, all derived from adult budwood, were identified following the growth of severely-pruned hedge plants grafted onto juvenile seedling rootstocks. Only explants from the form displaying the juvenile-like characteristic of over-winter leaf retention were capable of establishing sustainable cultures in vitro, although growth was not as rapid as those from a two year old seedling source. Pruning to release correlative inhibition of buds low on the scion framework produced vigorous shoot growth, but explants from these failed to show sustained growth in vitro. Withholding light from stockplants reduced excessive phenolic oxidation in explants taken from flushing unripe shoots, however, despite a beneficial effect on culture initiation, later growth was dependent upon the juvenile- or adult-like physiology of the original explant. A new medium was devised for this subject, which in addition to promoting growth generally, also stimulated the flushing of shoot apices. The relevance to in vitro culture of expression of juvenile habit in the stockplant is discussed.     

Preliminary evaluation of diagnostic tests using horses experimentally infected with trypanosoma evansi

Seven surra negative horses were intravenously inoculated with 3 x 10(6)Trypanosoma evansi parasites derived from a camel. One horse was maintained as an uninfected negative control. Three antigen and three antibody detection tests were evaluated for diagnosis of infection in horses. The microhaematocrit centrifugation test (MHCT) was the most sensitive, first detecting parasites between one and three days (x 2.4) post infection (p.i.). The antigen (ag)-ELISA detected antigen between three and ten days (x 6.6) p.i. The latex agglutination test (LAT) first gave positive results on day 3 (x 3.0) p.i. Following the treatment of horses with trypanocidal drugs, the MCHT and the mouse inoculation test (MIT) became negative. Antigen levels using LAT declined and reached pre-infection levels in five out of six horses during the period of observation (92-279 days). Antigen levels using the ag-ELISA declined as well but did not reach pre-infection levels in any of the six horses.Three antibody detection techniques, ab-ELISA, card agglutination test (CATT), and immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) detected antibodies in the blood of all seven infected horses but not in the uninfected control. However, the ab-ELISA did not discriminate clearly between sera from infected and uninfected horses because unacceptably high ELISA background readings were detected in 15% of the surra negative horses shipped to the UAE from the UK. The ELISA antibody increased above pre-infection levels in the six horses experimentally infected, but not in one horse. In this horse the ELISA antibody level exceeded the cut-off level only after the reoccurrence of the T. evansi infection. The IFAT detected antibodies 15.7 days p.i. in all infected horses.     

Egg production responses of hens given a complete mash or unground grain together with concentrate pellets

Thirty‐three light hybrids aged 11 months were caged individually and fed for S weeks according to three regimes, viz. A, a conventional mash ad libitum; B, a mixture of whole wheat, barley and kibbled maize ad libitum in the morning, with concentrate pellets ad libitum in the afternoon; or C, ad libitum the same grain mixture together with concentrate pellets and oystershell grit in the ratio 70 : 23 : 7 so that the nutritive value of the complete diet was similar to that of the conventional mash. The concentrate pellets used in the two regimes differed. Those used in regime B contained ground limestone while those used in regime C did not.

Egg production was similar on the three regimes (74.8, 74.7 and 74.5% respectively) . Food intake was lowest on regime C and highest on regime B, although the intakes of metabolisable energy were very similar on the three regimes. Compared with the results obtained with the conventional mash diet (regime A), the conversions of food and dietary protein to eggs were lower on regime B but higher on regime C.     

INVESTIGATION OF EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANAEMIA IN QUEENSLAND USING GEL DIFFUSION

An antigen for the gel diffusion test for equine infectious anaemia (EIA) was prepared from the spleen of a horse experimentally infected with the CQ strain of the virus. The antigen produced a single, distinct line of precipitation when tested against a range of known positive serums, and did not react with pre-inoculation and known negative serums. Extracts prepared from uninfected spleens displayed no reaction when similarly tested. Serum from 34 of 451 Queensland horses contained detectable levels of antibody to EIA virus. The positive serums were from horses in widely separated areas of the State.