The digestibility of crude nutrients in horses. 2. Comparative studies on the digestive capacity of a thoroughbred horse, pony and wether

The digestibility of the crude nutrients of 6 rations on the basis of oat, hay and wheat straw (in one case a straw-concentrate mixture as sole feed) was compared at a nutrition level of 1.0 and 1.3 resp. with adult geldings of the species "Noble Crossbreed", adult pony geldings and wethers The energy concentration of the rations varied between 424 and 585 EFUcattle/kg DM, the crude fibre content between 17 and 25% of the DM. In the studied field, a good agreement between horse and pony could be ascertained as to the digestibility of the organic matter and NFE. There are partly considerable differences between the apparent digestibility of crude protein and crude fibre. The differences in the digestibility of crude fibre between horse and sheep increase with a growing crude fibre content. The differences of the apparent digestibility between horse and pony on the one hand and sheep on the other were highly significant in all cases.     

Serum amyloid A in the serum and milk of ewes with mastitis induced experimentally with Staphylococcus epidermidis

Mastitis was induced experimentally in ewes with Staphylococcus epidermidis, and the concentrations of serum amyloid A (SAA) in milk and serum, and the somatic cell counts and bacteria in the milk were determined for up to 10 weeks in two experiments, each examining five infected and five control ewes. The somatic cell counts peaked eight hours after infection and preceded an increase in SAA in milk. A maximum concentration of 6460 microg/ml SAA was recorded in milk from the infected sheep, compared with a mean concentration of 1.4 microg/ml in the control sheep. The mean peak concentration of SAA in serum (206.8 microg/ml) occurred earlier (one day after infection) than in milk. The serum concentration of SAA in the healthy animals ranged from 0 to 29.4 microg/ml. There was no correlation between the concentrations of SAA in serum and milk.     

Isolation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against structural proteins of infectious laryngotracheitis virus

Thirteen infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV)-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were isolated after immunization of mice with purified infectious laryngotracheitis virions. On the basis of their reactions in western blot analyses of ILTV-infected cells, the MAbs were assigned to five different virus proteins or protein groups. Two of the viral target proteins could be identified after transient expression of cloned ILTV genes in eucaryotic cells. The MAbs of group II detected a 60-kD protein that was shown to be the ILTV homologue of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein (g)C. The MAbs of group I reacted with the positional homologue of HSV-1 gJ, which is encoded by the open reading frame (ORF) 5 gene within the unique short genome region of ILTV. The ORF 5 gene product of ILTV was previously described as a 60-kD glycoprotein (gp60), whereas multiple protein bands with apparent molecular masses of 85, 115, 160, and 200 kD were identified in the present study. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that both gC and gJ of ILTV are localized in the envelope of virus particles, whereas the 15-kD protein detected by the MAbs of group III presumably represents a tegument component. Immunofluorescence analyses of infected cells demonstrated that the epitopes of the gC- and gJ-specific MAbs are conserved in all tested ILTV isolates originating from different parts of the world and that these MAbs are also suitable for in situ antigen detection in tissues of ILTV-infected chickens. The remaining ILTV-specific MAbs recognized viral proteins of 22 kD (group IV) and 38 kD (group V) that were not further characterized up to now.     

Evaluation of veterinarian and veterinary student knowledge and clinical use of pulse oximetry

We hypothesized that veterinarians and veterinary students may lack key knowledge about pulse oximetry, which may result in this type of patient monitor not being used on appropriate patient populations or to its full capabilities. A questionnaire was developed to assess an individual's knowledge and understanding of pulse oximetry. Residents and specialists in anesthesiology and critical care at several academic institutions were surveyed first to assess the questionnaire for clarity and to serve as a control group. General veterinary practitioners (GPs) attending continuing education courses at the University of Georgia were surveyed over a 24-month period. Students entering their senior year anesthesiology rotation at the University of Georgia were also surveyed. Residents and specialists (69% correct responses) scored significantly higher than senior students (46%), who scored significantly higher than GPs (34%). Only 15% of GPs and 21% of senior students reported that they had received training in pulse oximetry in school. Those who had received training scored significantly higher than those who did not. Many GPs did not report using a pulse oximeter on their critical patients under anesthesia, a group that would be expected to benefit from its use. Veterinarians have a poor understanding about how pulse oximetry works, the information provided by pulse oximetry, and how to best apply it to their patients. Furthermore, the respondents did not use pulse oximeters in a manner that would derive the most information and result in the greatest benefit to the patient relative to the cost of the instrument. Didactic training in veterinary curricula and during continuing education opportunities continues to be necessary in order to produce veterinarians, who have an understanding of the technologies available that can be used to improve patient care.     

Evaporative cooling pad attenuates osmotic stress in closed-loop irrigated greenhouse roses

Ecological and economic considerations motivate the use of closed-loop irrigation to grow greenhouse crops on artificial substrates, submitting plants to increased osmotic stress due to heightened solute concentration of the irrigation solution. High solute concentration of re-circulated irrigation water, measured as electrical conductivity (EC), lowered the transpiration rate of flowering rose stems measured by the heat pulse method. The operation of an evaporative cooling pad decreased the transpiration rate by diminishing the water vapor deficit of the air in the greenhouse and slowed the rate of solute accumulation. Weaker evaporative demand also attenuated salinity induced decrease of transpiration rate. Leaf water potential and stomatal conductance corroborated that the wet-pad and fan alleviated osmotic stress caused by high concentration of the re-circulated irrigation solution.