Effects of feed form on growth and blood glucose in weanling horses

Eight weanling Standardbred horses were used to evaluate the effects on growth and plasma glucose of two differently processed diets with identical ingredients fed at a rate of 3% of body weight, as fed, daily. The daily ration was divided into two equal feedings at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. The hay and grain diet (diet HG) consisted of 50% alfalfa hay cubes and 50% of a commercial growing horse texturized grain mix fed as is, without any further processing, with each part fed in separate containers. The completely pelleted diet (diet P) consisted of the same proportions of the hay cubes and grain mix that was ground, pelleted, and fed in a single container. Two groups of four horses were fed either diet P or diet HG for two 21-day periods such that each horse consumed each diet for 21 days. On the last day of each feeding period, 7-mL blood samples were drawn into heparinized evacuated blood tubes for determination of plasma glucose concentration. Blood samples were drawn 30 minutes before the afternoon feeding, immediately before, and every 30 minutes thereafter for 5 hours. Analysis of variance found greater (P = .027) average daily gain for horses fed diet P versus diet HG. A nonsignificant difference was seen in feed efficiency (P = .057) for horses fed diet P versus diet HG. Plasma glucose changes were compared across treatments using area under the curve analysis. No difference (P > .05) was found in the postprandial plasma glucose changes between diet treatments.     

Temporal distribution of porcine circovirus 2 genogroups recovered from postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome affected and nonaffected farms in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is now recognized as the essential infectious component of porcine postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). PMWS was first recognized in high-status, specific pathogen-free pigs in Canada in 1991 and is now an economically important disease that affects the swine industry around the world. Recently, reports of genomic studies on PCV2 viruses indicated that 2 distinctive genogroups of PCV2 exist.4,10 This report involves the results of a study on the distribution of predominant PCV2 genogroups recovered from samples taken from PMWS-affected and PMWS-nonaffected farms on the island of Ireland over a 9-year period and the results of a study on PCV2 genogroup recovery from fecal samples taken from a farm in Northern Ireland from 2003 to 2005 that was first diagnosed as PMWS positive in August 2005. The results indicate that, although at least 2 distinct genogroups of PCV2 have been circulating on pig farms on the island of Ireland, there does not appear to be a direct relationship between infection with these different genogroups of PCV2 and the development of PMWS.     

Amoxycillin: clinical trials in dogs and cats

Amoxycillin, a new broad spectrum semi-synthetic penicillin was subjected to preliminary clinical testing in 351 cases in dogs and 264 in cats in veterinary practices. Two formulations were used: capsules by mouth and an aqueous suspension by injection. Those taking part were asked to use amoxycillin in the treatment of all conditions that they considered required an antibiotic and to report their results in terms of success or failure according to criteria laid down. Samples were taken whenever practicable for bacteriology. Dose ranges were 4 to 11 mg per kg for the oral capsules twice daily in dogs and most cats and 11 mg per kg once daily in some cat cases over five days and 2 to 7 mg per kg for the injectable suspension once daily in both species for three to five days. Results for the full range of conditions are given in tabulated form. Overall percentage of success according to the criteria laid down was 80.1%.     

Arizona pine (Pinus arizonica) stand dynamics: local and regional factors in a fire-prone madrean gallery forest of Southeast Arizona,USA

In southwestern North America, large-scale climate patterns appear to exert control on moisture availability, fire occurrence, and tree demography, raising the compelling possibility of regional synchronization of forest dynamics. Such regional signals may be obscured, however, by local, site-specific factors, such as disturbance history and land use. Contiguous sites with similar physical environments, lower and middle Rhyolite Canyon, Arizona, USA, shared nearly the same fire history from 1660-1801, but then diverged. For the next 50 years, fires continued to occur frequently in lower Rhyolite, but, probably as result of flood-induced debris deposition, largely ceased in middle Rhyolite. We related stand dynamics of Arizona pine (Pinus arizonica) to fire history and drought severity and compared the dynamics in the two sites before and after the divergence in fire frequency. Fires occurred during unusually dry years, and possibly following unusually moist years. Arizona pine exhibited three age structure peaks: two (1810–1830 and 1870–1900) shared by the two sites and one (1610–1640) only in middle Rhyolite. The latter two peaks occurred during periods of unusually low fire frequency, suggesting that fire-induced mortality shapes age structure. Evidence was mixed for the role of favorable moisture availability in age structure. As expected, moisture availability had a prominent positive effect on radial growth, but the effect of fire was largely neutral. The two sites differed only moderately in stand dynamics during the period of divergence, exhibiting subtle age structure contrasts and, in middle Rhyolite only, reduced growth during a 50-year fire hiatus followed by fire-induced release. These results suggest that, despite local differences in disturbance history, forest responses to regional fire and climate processes can persist.     

Insecticidal activity of the pyrethrins and related compounds. VII. Insecticidal dihalovinyl analogues of cis and trans chrysanthemates

Eighteen esters of resolved cis- and trans-3-(2,2-difluoro, -dichloro or -dibromovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylic acids with 5-benzyl-3-furylmethyl, 3-phenoxybenzyl and α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl alcohols were prepared and evaluated for insecticidal activity against Musca domestica L. and Phaedon cochleariae Fab. Chlorine and bromine substituted esters are more active, in general, than those with fluorine, and in the most active esters, the cis isomer is more effective than the trans.