Sex differences in the response of yearling horses to handling by unfamiliar humans

In adult horses, pronounced sex differences in behavior exist, and many riders prefer male horses to mares. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that sex differences in the response of horses to handling emerge before puberty, that is, in sexually immature animals. Warm-blooded yearling horses (6 males and 9 females) were exposed to a stationary human test (exposure to an unfamiliar person for 5 minutes) and a tolerance test (haltering and direct contact with the horse) on 5 consecutive days. The horses' behavior and heart rate were recorded. Male yearling horses displayed significantly less exploratory behavior than females during the stationary human test on days 1 and 2 (P < 0.05). Latency to halter and ease with which horses could be haltered were significantly affected by day (P < 0.05), and a significant interaction of day and sex was detected (P < 0.05; e.g., time for haltering: females, day 1: 23.8 ± 7.8 seconds [±standard error of the mean] and day 5: 21.1 ± 1.7 seconds; males, day 1: 53.6 ± 10.4 seconds and day 5: 19.4 ± 2.2 seconds). Heart rate of the horses in response to the test situations was significantly affected by day (P < 0.01) but not by sex. In conclusion, sex differences in behavior do not only exist in adult horses but are already present in young horses before puberty. When exposed to unfamiliar humans for the first time, male yearling horses display more caution than females.     

Destructive cholangiolitis in seven dogs

Summary

In seven dogs presented with clinical signs and laboratory data suggestive of extrahepatic cholestasis, destructive cholangiolitis was diagnosed. The diagnosis was based on the absence of extrahepatic cholestasis at laparoscopy, laparotomy and/or post‐mortem examination, and the presence of specific liver lesions i.e. loss of bile ducts in the smaller portal areas. The disease is compared with drug‐induced (chlorpromazine) cholestasis in man. In two dogs clinical signs were preceded by longstanding respectively repeated sulphonamide medication.     

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Abnormal Behaviors in Chilean Racehorses: A Direct Observational Study

Stereotypies are considered a cause and symptom of impaired welfare, and have been associated with suboptimal husbandry systems. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of stereotypic and other abnormal behaviors in Chilean thoroughbreds by direct observation, and examine their associations with biological characteristics and management practices. Seven hundred forty-three racehorses were observed directly, every 5 minutes during 1 hour before and after feeding, to identify behavioral disorders. A questionnaire was administered to handlers to obtain information about the animal and husbandry practices.     

Pulp in Shop-Bought Orange Juice Has Little Effect on Flavonoid Content and Gut Bacterial Flavanone Degradation In Vitro

Orange juice is an important source of flavanones in the Western diet. However, little is known of the variation in flavanone content of shop-bought orange juice with pulp (OJP) or without pulp (OJ), nor the impact of pulp on the fate of flavanones in the gut. Total phenols, total flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, hesperidin and narirutin, and dietary fibre were measured in six orange juice brands sold as OJP and OJ. The inclusion of pulp had little impact on fibre content. Apart from total phenols (OJ: 208.4?±?10.7 μg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) ml^?1; OJP: 225.9?±?16.7 μg GAE ml^?1, P?<?0.05), there were no differences between OJ and OJP. The fate of flavanones in OJ and OJP (Tropicana) were further compared using in vitro gastrointestinal (GI) models. After in vitro upper GI digestion, recovery of hesperidin was higher in OJ compared with OJP (89?±?6 vs. 68?±?3%, P?=?0.033). After 2 h colonic fermentation, hesperidin was 1.2 fold higher in OJP than OJ. However, after 24 h colonic fermentation there was no significant difference between juices in terms of hesperidin, hesperetin, narirutin, naringenin and catabolites. In conclusion, the amount of pulp included in these shop-bought orange juices had little impact on flavanone metabolism in models of the GI tract. The effects of greater amounts of orange pulp remain to be determined.

     

Measures of self-efficacy and norms for low-fat milk consumption are reliable and related to beverage consumption among 5th graders at school lunch

OBJECTIVE: To determine the reliability and validity of scales measuring low-fat milk consumption self-efficacy and norms during school lunch among a cohort of 5th graders. DESIGN: Two hundred and seventy-five students completed lunch food records and a psychosocial questionnaire measuring self-efficacy and norms for school lunch low-fat milk consumption during the fall and spring semesters of the 1998-1999 academic year. Test-retest reliability was assessed in participants who also completed the questionnaire in the spring semester (n = 262). Principal component analyses identified and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed latent variables. Bivariate correlations measured construct validity. SETTING: Houston-area middle school. SUBJECTS: Fifth graders (n = 275) from one middle school in southeast Texas. RESULTS: Two scales measuring psychosocial influences of low-fat milk consumption were identified and proved reliable in this population: milk self-efficacy and milk norms. Milk self-efficacy and norms were positively correlated with milk consumption and negatively correlated with consumption of sweetened beverages. CONCLUSIONS: These questionnaires can be used in similar interventions to measure the impact of self-efficacy and norms for drinking low-fat milk during school lunch.     

Enrichment and diversity of plant-probiotic microorganisms in the rhizosphere of hybrid maize during four growth cycles

The population dynamics of naturally-occurring antibiotic producing and nitrogen fixing rhizobacteria, as well as of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was investigated for a hybrid of maize (Lo964×Lo1016) in comparison to its two parental lines (Lo964 and Lo1016), during four successive 5-week-long growth cycles in the same pot. Beneficial rhizobacteria, such as nitrogen fixers and 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG) and pyrrolnitrin (PRN) producers, as well as AMF were stimulated in the hybrid rhizosphere earlier than in those of the two parental lines. In fact, they were molecularly detected in all rhizospheric samples of the hybrid, independently of the cycle, whereas for the parental lines positive detections occurred only for samples collected after at least two growth cycles. Interestingly, a MPN-PCR approach on rhizospheric DNA samples indicated that, when detected, beneficial rhizobacteria reached similar density in all maize genotypes (2×10³ to 2.2×10⁴ target DNA sequences/g^?1 of root). Concerning the AMF, even if the three maize genotypes were cultivated in the same soil, it appears that each maize genotype stimulates the AMF population differently. Both the hybrid and the Lo964 line were able to select, in the observed time period, their own adapted phylogenetic AMF subgroups (Glomus A for the hybrid, Archeospora for Lo964), whereas the Lo1016 line was not.