Effects of inclusion of corn gluten feed in dairy rations on dry matter intake,milk yield,milk components,and ruminal fermentation parameters: a meta-analysis

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Corn gluten feed (CGF) is a co-product of wet milling that can replace energy or fiber ingredients in dairy cow rations. The present meta-analysis examines...     

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.     

Plasma cell pododermatitis in a cat

Plasma cell pododermatitis, an uncommon disease of unknown etiology, is described in a six year old male domestic short-haired cat. The cat was referred with a history of lameness associated with swelling, softness and ulceration of the foot pads. The history suggested a seasonal occurrence of the condition. The dermis and subcutis of the foot pads were infiltrated by inflammatory cells which were mainly plasma cells. The large number of plasma cells present in the lesions suggests an immunological basis for the condition.     

Seasonal changes in pasture biomass and grazing behaviour of cattle in the Guinea Savanna agroecological zone of Ghana

Spatial and temporal availability of pasture vegetation and cattle grazing behaviour in three seasons (intermediate season [IM], peak season [PS] and dry season [DS]) in the Guinea Savanna agroecological zone of Ghana was examined. The frequency of occurrence of three species groups (grass, legume and forbs) and biomass yield was estimated in 1 m² plots. The grazing behaviour of 18 cows from six herds was monitored over three days per animal. Season affected the prevalence of species groups with grasses being most dominant in all seasons. Most grazing lands were heavily grazed in IM and DS but moderately grazed in PS. Whilst harvested rice fields represented the most frequently grazed land in DS, fallowed hard pans were used in PS and IM. Biomass yield was highest in DS owing to the contribution of crop residues from harvested farmlands. Carrying capacity was linked to biomass production and averaged 0.55 in DS, 0.38 in PR and 0.21 in IM. Animals spent less time outside the kraal in PS than IM and DS. Walking time was higher in DS than in IM and PS. Less than 20% of the time on pasture was spent on resting, watering and social interaction across seasons.     

Visceral leishmaniasis in a dog: clinical, hematological and pathological observations.

Visceral leishmaniasis was diagnosed in a dog that had been living with his owners in Spain for two years. Clinical diagnosis was somewhat delayed as the disease is largely unknown to Canada and was manifested by a nonresponsive anemia which was not easily explained on peripheral blood evaluation alone, and concomitant interstitial nephritis. On post mortem examination splenomegaly was the main gross pathological finding. Light microscopic examination of bone marrow aspirates and subsequent electron microscopic examination of splenic and hepatic tissues revealed numerous Leishman-Donovan bodies in cells of the reticuloendothelial system. Parasitized reticuloendothelial cells were seen singly or forming granulomata. These latter did not contain giant cells and were confined mainly to the liver and spleen, being sparse and single in the first but extremely numerous and coalescing in the latter. Accumulation of intrafollicular hyaline material was seen in a small number of splenic follicles. Leishman-Donovan bodies on electron microscopic examination had a trilaminar periplast, a large round nucleus with heavy blocks of marginated chromatin and two nucleoli, a short flagellum and a kinetoplast. Lymph nodes and bone marrow had numerous parasitized macrophages but no granulomata. Leishman-Donovan bodies were not detected in the lungs and kidneys both of which exhibited a chronic intersitital reaction. The comparative hematological profile as well as the importance of bone marrow and electron microscopic examinations of the spleen and liver in diagnosis are discussed. The potential public health hazard of leishmaniasis to North America and particularly to Canada is considered.