Assessing online opinions of wildlife through social media

We present a technique to programmatically collect comments made about videos on YouTube, a popular social media website, and use content analysis to categorize and compare the frequency of comment types across videos and topics. For this article, we collected and categorized the comments of the 10 most viewed videos (in 2013) of three common North American mammals: the coyote (Canis latrans), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and raccoon (Procyon lotor) to demonstrate the potential of the technique. Half of the categorized comments for coyote encouraged their lethal control while the most popular comments for raccoon and opossum described these species as “cute” (47% and 34%, respectively). Analyzing YouTube comments is a promising avenue of research, and given proper development, could represent a useful approach to assess public opinions toward wildlife expressed online.     

Gut microbes limit growth in house sparrow nestlings (Passer domesticus) but not through limitations in digestive capacity

Recent research often lauds the services and beneficial effects of host‐associated microbes on animals. However, hosting these microbes may come at a cost. For example, germ‐free and antibiotic‐treated birds generally grow faster than their conventional counterparts. In the wild, juvenile body size is correlated with survival, so hosting a microbiota may incur a fitness cost. Avian altricial nestlings represent an interesting study system in which to investigate these interactions, given that they exhibit the fastest growth rates among vertebrates, and growth is limited by their digestive capacity. We investigated whether reduction and restructuring of the microbiota by antibiotic treatment would: (i) increase growth and food conversion efficiency in nestling house sparrows (Passer domesticus); (ii) alter aspects of gut anatomy or function (particularly activities of digestive carbohydrases and their regulation in response to dietary change); and (iii) whether there were correlations between relative abundances of microbial taxa, digestive function and nestling growth. Antibiotic treatment significantly increased growth and food conversion efficiency in nestlings. Antibiotics did not alter aspects of gut anatomy that we considered but depressed intestinal maltase activity. There were no significant correlations between abundances of microbial taxa and aspects of host physiology. Overall, we conclude that microbial‐induced growth limitation in developing birds is not driven by interactions with digestive capacity. Rather, decreased energetic and material costs of immune function or beneficial effects from microbes enriched under antibiotic treatment may underlie these effects. Understanding the costs and tradeoffs of hosting gut microbial communities represents an avenue of future research.     

幼年牦牛不同部位皮肤毛囊的组织学结构及TGF-β2与HIF-1α差异性表达分析

旨在探究幼年牦牛皮肤毛囊的组织学结构和TGF-β2及HIF-1α对幼年牦牛皮肤毛囊生长发育的影响，选取10头健康幼年牦牛，采集其颈部、背部、胸部、腹部、小腿部、腋下及阴囊皮肤组织，制作石蜡切片后，采用HE和Sacpic染色，对各部位皮肤组织中毛囊进行观察和计数，并筛选出多毛及少毛部位。利用qRT-PCR、Western blot及免疫组织化学法对TGF-β2和HIF-1α在幼年牦牛多毛皮肤和少毛皮肤进行定位与定量的初步研究。结果表明，幼年牦牛皮肤的毛囊分布于真皮层，常与汗腺及皮脂腺伴行，毛髓质及内根鞘结构不完整。Sacpic染色可见毛囊内根鞘为红色，外根鞘为苍绿色，结缔组织鞘为蓝绿色。腹部皮肤的毛囊数量最多[（2 085±15）个·cm^-2]，阴囊数量最少[（158±15）个·cm^-2]。免疫组织化学结果显示，TGF-β2及HIF-1α主要表达在表皮层、毛囊外根鞘、皮脂腺及汗腺。TGF-β2在阴囊和腋下的mRNA转录水平和蛋白质表达水平均显著高于腹部和背部。HIF-1α在腹部的mRNA转录水平和蛋白质表达水平均显著高于其他三个部位。幼年牦牛的毛囊处于退行期，在腹部数量最多，背部次之，阴囊最少；TGF-β2和HIF-1α在不同部位皮肤中的表达水平存在显著差异，为进一步研究TGF-β2和HIF-1α对牦牛皮肤毛囊生长发育的影响提供理论依据。     

Retrospective investigation of perioperative risk factors for immediate postoperative corneal erosions in dogs undergoing phacoemulsification

Objective

To characterize the incidence, contributing risk factors, and healing characteristics of immediate postoperative corneal erosions (IPCE) in dogs undergoing routine phacoemulsification.

Animals Studied

Medical records of 313 canine eyes (159 dogs) undergoing routine phacoemulsification surgery.

Procedures

Medical records of dogs undergoing planned cataract surgery at UW Veterinary Care were retrospectively reviewed. Patient-related variables including age, skull conformation, diabetes status, and cataract stage at the time of surgery were recorded. Intraoperative variables per eye were also recorded including surgical technique, surgeon expertise level, average phacoemulsification power, and phacoemulsification time. Diagnosis of IPCE ≤ 24 h after completion of surgery and time to IPCE healing were recorded where follow-up data were available.

Results

Immediate postoperative corneal erosions were observed in 48/313 (15.3%) operated eyes. The presence of diabetes mellitus or brachycephalic skull conformation, preoperative Schirmer tear test (STT) value, surgical technique and surgeon experience level, phacoemulsification time, and absolute phacoemulsification time were not statistically significant risk factors for IPCE. Average phacoemulsification power was associated with IPCE (RR 1.52, p = .001). Time to IPCE healing was similar in diabetic and non-diabetic dogs (median [IQR] 8 [6–11] days and 8 [6–15] days, respectively). Diabetes mellitus, brachycephaly, and phacoemulsification parameters were not associated with IPCE healing at 7 or 14 days postoperatively.

Conclusions

Higher average phacoemulsification power may be associated with the development of IPCE in canine eyes. The presence of diabetes mellitus or brachycephaly are not risk factors for the development of IPCE, nor are they factors that influence IPCE healing.     

Intra-increment circumferential variation in tracheid length as a basis for sampling genetically superior trees of deodar (Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud.)

Summary Intra-increment circumferential variation in tracheid length at breast-height in deodar (Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud. vern. diar) has been studied with the main objective of evolving an efficient sampling procedure for the purpose of comparing tracheid length amongst individual trees of forest stands. It has been studied in five sampling strata namely: whole-annual ring, whole-earlywood, whole-latewood, first-firmed earlywood and last-formed latewood. Tracheid length shows significant circumferential variation in whole-annual ring, whole-earlywood, whole-latewood and last-formed latewood. However, when the mean tracheid length of two opposite directions is compared with the mean tracheid length of eight cardinal directions in these sampling strata, then no significant difference is observed. First-formed stratum of an annual ring exhibits statistically consistent values around the circumference and thus sampling from any random radial direction can serve the purpose for the comparison of inherent values of tracheid length amongst the deodar trees.The financial assistance given by Himachal Pradesh University as H.P.U. Junior Research Fellowship to second author is highly acknowledged     

The efficacy of a petroleum spray oil against Aphis gossypii Glover on cotton. Part 1: mortality rates and sources of variation

Petroleum spray oils (PSOs) kill insect pests on contact, and the composition of modern PSOs is substantially different from the ones introduced earlier. The effects of direct application of a new nC24 PSO on the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, were therefore determined. This covered not only aphid mortality rates but also the way in which the oils affected aphid behaviour at the time of contact with the oil. Direct application of the nC24 oil proved to be highly effective in controlling A. gossypii at a range of concentrations between 1 and 10% v/v. The oil killed cotton aphids quickly, with most of the mortality occurring within the first 10 min of spraying. The fast killing action of the oils prevented any behavioural responses by the aphids. Aphids killed by the oils became flaccid and their legs and antennae extended horizontally relative to the body axis. With time, their cuticle became very shiny and began to darken. The quick death of the aphids suggested a contact mode of action of the oils, an interpretation supported by the lack of any negative effect on aphids not initially reached by the oils. However, those aphids not hit by the oils, but that subsequently encountered oil-treated areas when they moved elsewhere, also died, indicating that the oil deposits are also toxic to the aphids. The mode of action of the oil thus seems to be versatile, and the means by which it kills the aphids may be more complex than anoxia, which is the widely claimed mechanism attributed to PSOs. This oil now needs to be tested for any possible indirect effects on the cotton aphid (e.g. through its host-plant acceptance behaviour). The implications of the present findings for cotton aphid control and assessment of PSO efficacy in the field are discussed.     

Basic magnetic resonance imaging principles used for evaluating animal patients with neurologic disease.

The use of MRI in veterinary medicine is growing, because it provides excellent anatomic and pathologic detail. Acquiring a useful MRI study depends upon understanding basic MRI principles and choosing the correct pulse sequences. This article introduces the reader to principles of MRI, image contrast, and appropriate pulse sequence selection for imaging. Lastly, the article briefly describes diffusion imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, and chemical shift artifact. The fundamental topics addressed in this article are items that exotic animal practitioners using MRI should know and be able to put to immediate use.