Pre-weaning morbidity and mortality of llamas and alpacas

Objectives   To describe the morbidity and mortality patterns and identify factors associated with morbidity in pre-weaning llamas and alpacas.
Design   Cross-sectional observational study of 287 crias born on four farms in Ohio, USA
Procedure   Historical data representing all crias born over a 6-year period were obtained from two llama farms and two alpaca farms in Ohio. Multivariable generalised linear mixed effects regression models were used to identify factors associated with morbidity outcomes.
Results   In total, 105 (37%) of the llamas and alpacas had some reported morbidity during the pre-weaning period, and mortality rate was 2.1%. In addition, 51 (18%) of llamas and alpacas experienced morbidity because of infectious disease, and 47 (16%) experienced morbidity during the neonatal period. The three most commonly reported morbidity events were undifferentiated diarrhoea (23%), umbilical hernia (16%) and unspecified infectious disease (15%). Difficult birth was an important risk factor for pre-weaning morbidity in this population.
Conclusions   Camelid veterinarians and their clients can expect that pre-weaning health events are common among crias, although mortality is low. Crias experiencing difficult births may require additional monitoring for health events during the pre-weaning period.     

Efficacy of tulathromycin compared with tilmicosin and florfenicol for the control of respiratory disease in cattle at high risk of developing bovine respiratory disease

Three studies conducted at feedlots in Colorado, Idaho, and Texas examined the comparative efficacy of tulathromycin injectable solution for the treatment of cattle at high risk of developing undifferentiated bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Each study randomly allocated 250 calves to receive tulathromycin at 2.5 mg/kg and 250 calves to receive either tilmicosin at 10 mg/kg (Colorado site) or florfenicol at 40 mg/kg (Idaho and Texas sites) on arrival at the feedlot. Calves were housed by treatment group in pens with 50 calves/pen. Beginning 3 days after antimicrobial treatment, cattle were observed for signs of BRD daily until harvest. In all three studies, the treatment success rates at 28 days after treatment and at harvest were significantly higher (P < or = .013) for cattle treated with tulathromycin than for cattle treated with either tilmicosin or florfenicol. Fewer tulathromycin-treated cattle were removed from the group as "chronics" or "mortalities" at 28 days posttreatment (P < or = .014) in all three studies. Tulathromycin demonstrated superior efficacy compared with tilmicosin and florfenicol when treating groups of high-risk cattle before the onset of signs of BRD.     

Combinatorial electrochemistry: A highly parallel, optical screening method for discovery of better electrocatalysts

Combinatorial screening of electrochemical catalysts by current-voltage methods can be unwieldy for large sample sizes. By converting the ions generated in an electrochemical half-cell reaction to a fluorescence signal, the most active compositions in a large electrode array have been identified. A fluorescent acid-base indicator was used to image high concentrations of hydrogen ions, which were generated in the electrooxidation of methanol. A 645-member electrode array containing five elements (platinum, ruthenium, osmium, iridium, and rhodium), 80 binary, 280 ternary, and 280 quaternary combinations was screened to identify the most active regions of phase space. Subsequent "zoom" screens pinpointed several very active compositions, some in ternary and quaternary regions that were bounded by rather inactive binaries. The best catalyst, platinum(44)/ruthenium(41)/osmium(10)/iridium(5) (numbers in parentheses are atomic percent), was significantly more active than platinum(50)/ruthenium(50) in a direct methanol fuel cell operating at 60 degreesC, even though the latter catalyst had about twice the surface area of the former.     

苜蓿蓟马抗性与生理活性相关性研究(英文)

[Objective] The experiment explored of resistance of different Medicago sativa through synthetic variations of all physiological indexes and the correlation analysis between physiological activity and damage degree after thrips damage. [Method] According to studying physiological activity (POD activity, SOD activity, PPO activity, PAL activity, MDA content and free proline content) of alfalfa in alfalfa resistance to different number of thrips, the correlation between physiological activity and resistance was investigated. [Result] It was shown that there were negative correlations among POD, SOD, PPO, PAL, MDA, free praline and the number of thrips, and there were negative correlations among POD, SOD, PPO, PAL, MDA, free praline and CAT. The content changes of POD,SOD,PPO,CAT,MDA and free proline in high resistant alfalfa were slow and PAL was quick and the activities of PPO,PAL,CAT were high, and the activities of POD、SOD were low. [Conclusion] The research provided theoretical basis and materials for identifying resistance varieties of alfalfa to thrip.