Development and evaluation of an online computer-aided learning (CAL) package to promote small-animal welfare

RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY: The aims of the study, conducted as a student research project in the 2004-5 session, were to develop an interactive, online computer-aided learning (CAL) package on the topic of small-animal husbandry; to validate the resource as a suitable lecture replacement for first-year veterinary students; and to raise awareness of current guidelines and legislation relating to small-animal housing among local catteries and kennels and in the wider community. METHODOLOGY: Quantitative feedback was collected from student and teaching staff using paper-based questionnaires. Qualitative feedback was gathered from open questionnaire responses and through focus-group discussions with students. Student examination marks were compared for 2004 and 2005, allowing a comparison of student performance before and after the replacement of the traditional lecture with the CAL package. Ethical approval for the study was granted by the faculty's Ethics Committee. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The CAL package on small-animal housing was well received by teaching staff and students; student performance in examinations improved after the introduction of the CAL program, suggesting that it provides a suitable alternative to didactic teaching. The creation and distribution of the CAL package on CD-ROM and its availability via the Internet are intended to contribute to small-animal welfare education in local catteries and kennels and further afield. The package sets a precedent for the development of more Internet-based, student-authored CAL packages in the future, providing additional resources for independent learning.     

Review of research methodologies for tigers: Telemetry

Over the past half century, wildlife research has relied on technological advances to gain additional insight into the secretive lives of animals. This revolution started in the 1960s with the development of radio telemetry and continues today with the use of Global Positioning System (GPS)-based research techniques. In the present paper we review the history of radio telemetry from its origins with grizzly bears in Yellowstone to its early applications in tiger research and conservation in Asia. We address the different types of data that are available using radio telemetry as opposed to using other research techniques, such as behavioral observations, camera trapping, DNA analysis and scat analysis. In the late 1990s, the rapid development of GPS collar technology revolutionized wildlife research. This new technology has enabled researchers to dramatically improve their ability to gather data on animal movements and ecology. Despite the ecological and conservation benefits of radio telemetry, there have been few telemetry studies of tigers in the wild, and most have been on the Bengal or Amur subspecies. We close with an assessment of the current tiger conservation efforts using GPS technology and discuss how this new information can help to preserve tigers for future generations.     

Clinical,pathologic, and toxicologic characterization of Salvia reflexa (lance-leaf sage) poisoning in cattle fed contaminated hay

Salvia reflexa (lance-leaf sage)-contaminated alfalfa hay was fed to ~500 mixed-breed beef cattle. Within hours of exposure, nearly half of the cattle developed lethargy, anorexia, depression, and recumbency, followed by bellowing, colic, and death. Even though the uneaten contaminated hay was removed the first day, nearly 100 animals died within the first 48 h. Three of these cattle were examined postmortem, and tissues and hay samples were collected for microscopic and chemical analysis. Several days later, a smaller number of the clinically poisoned cattle developed neurologic disease with aberrant behavior, aggression, icterus, blindness, exhaustion, and death. A total of 165 cattle were fatally poisoned. Poisoned cattle had swollen, dark, mottled livers that had a prominent nutmeg-like lobular pattern on cut section. Histologically, there was severe centrilobular-to-panlobular hepatic necrosis with marked hepatocellular swelling, degeneration, and necrosis. The surviving cattle developed liver disease characterized by altered serum biochemical analyses and microscopic hepatocellular degeneration and necrosis. In subsequent biopsies and analysis, these lesions resolved within 6–7 mo. After confirming toxicity of the hay in cattle, goats, and mice, followed by a mouse bioassay–guided chemical fractionation process, Salvia reflexa was identified as the contaminant in the hay responsible for the hepatotoxicity. S. reflexa has not been reported previously to cause fatal hepatotoxicity in livestock in North America, to our knowledge.     

Light quality treatments enhance somatic seedling production in three southern pine species

Embryogenic cultures of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) and slash pine x longleaf pine hybrids were initiated from immature seeds on an initiation medium containing 13.57 microM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2.22 microM benzylaminopurine. Embryogenic cultures proliferated and somatic embryos developed, matured and germinated following a modified protocol and media originally developed for radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don.) somatic seedling production. A discrete, light-sensitive pre-germination stage and a later germination (radicle emergence) stage were identified by the differential response of somatic embryos to light of different wavelengths. Different light quality treatments were applied during the pre-germination and germination steps, using cool white fluorescent bulbs or light-emitting diodes (LEDs), or both. In general, red wavelengths provided by LEDs during these steps resulted in higher frequencies of somatic embryo germination (up to 64%) and conversion (up to 50%), longer tap roots and more first-order lateral roots than the standard cool white fluorescent treatments or treatment with blue wavelengths from LEDs. In addition, exposure to red light allowed germination of somatic embryos of some clones that failed to produce germinants under fluorescent light. Germination and conversion were further enhanced by sequential application of cool white fluorescent light and red light, resulting in up to 100% germination and conversion in one experiment. Longleaf pine somatic embryos were especially responsive to the light quality treatments, resulting in the first report of somatic seedling production for this species.     

A study of the bonding forces between the epithelial cells surrounding the resin canals of slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) holocellulose

Summary Although the bonds between the cellular components of pine epithelia (isolated from holocellulose) can be strengthened by the addition of multivalent ions such as those of calcium, iron, uranium, etc., it was observed that these bonds are only weakened and not destroyed by the removal of the ions from the tissues. Reagents, such as KOH and K₂SO₄, which do not yield soluble calcium salts, do not cause a discernible weakening of the bonds between the cellulose components of epithelia pretreated with Ca ion. Washing the weakened epithelia with water causes them to swell. The separation of epithelial cells occurs only after the application of mechanical forces to the tissues. Electron microscopic examination of the swollen and unswollen tissues shows that fibrils and lamellae extend between the individual cells which must be destroyed by mechanical action before cell separation can occur. The swelling of the tissues by washing after removal of multivalent ions was attributed to the expansion of electrical double layers and to the increasing osmotic pressure from the increasing Donnan potential, while the difference in swelling as a result of HCl treatment vs. KCl and K₄Fe(CN)₆ was attributed to differences in charge development and to hydrogen bonding between acidic components. The restrengthening of the tissue as a result of the readdition of multivalent ion was attributed to the collapse of the electrical double layers and the reduction of the Donnan potential, with the re-forming of bonds between the components of the epithelia. Evidence suggesting that multivalent ions actually participate in bonding was obtained and although the nature of the bonding cannot be determined, both salt formation and complex formation between the ions and the components of the tissues is suggested.     

A comparison of techniques for the measurement of growth in adult lobsters

Four non-destructive measures of growth (wet weight in air, wet weight in water, displacement volume and carapace length) were correlated to two destructive measures of growth (dry weight and total body protein level) in adult American lobsters (Homarus americanus). All non-destructive parameters were significantly (P < 0.05) correlated to dry weight and protein for female lobsters. Only wet weight in water was significantly correlated to dry weight and total body protein level in male lobsters.     

Phosphorus cycling and soil P fractions in Douglas-fir and red alder stands

Nitrogen-fixing species can dramatically increase soil acidity and organic matter content, and potentially alter biogeochemical P dynamics. We compared ecosystem P cycling in adjacent stands of N₂-fixing red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) and non-fixing Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco) in order to determine whether P-cycling rates within stands were related to soil P forms as measured by sequential P fractionation. Above-ground annual P uptake was 61% greater in the red alder stand, although soil available P, as measured by Bray (NH₄F–HCl) extraction, was only 10% of that found in the Douglas-fir stand. Total ecosystem P in the alder stand was only 69% of that found in the Douglas-fir stand, and could indicate a pre-establishment difference between stands. However, the percentage of total soil P released by Bray or NaOH extraction was also lower in the alder stand, which suggests that differences in total P alone did not control the patterns observed in P fractions. Concentrations of inorganic P sorbed to Fe and Al minerals and contained in Fe minerals and apatite were greater under Douglas-fir, while organic P was slightly greater under red alder. While fluxes of P in litterfall, uptake and resorption were 94, 60 and 292% higher in the alder stand, soil extractable fractions meant to represent available P were lower under alder. Static measures of available P do not appear to adequately reflect P supply, and the development of techniques to assess P turnover is needed to better understand cycling and plant availability of P.