Canine squamous cell carcinoma: Electrochemotherapy association with surgery and correlation with overall survival

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is an important malignancy in dogs, due to its incidence and clinical presentation, which can be of locally aggressive single or multiple lesions with a metastatic potential. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate SCC response to treatment, anatomopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics, disease-free interval and overall survival time. 54 dogs with histopathologically diagnosed SCC were included in this study. Their mean age was 9.16 years with a range of 1–14 years. Of the 54 animals in the study, 34 (65.4%) had white skin and white fur coats. There was a significant correlation between fur coat colour and the development of tumours in areas of sun exposure (p = .001). Animals with tumours in areas of the body exposed to the sun had longer overall survival time than animals with tumours in areas not associated with sun exposure (p = .001). Surgery combined with electrochemotherapy (ECT) yielded a survival rate 32% higher than using a surgical approach alone (HR = 0.32, p = .038, IC = 0.11–0.94). ECT, with or without surgery, had an objective response rate of 90.9%. Local lymph node and/or distant site metastasis at diagnosis, or at some point during follow-up, occurred in 34.6% (18/52) of animals. Animals with tumours in sun exposed locations had more aggressive histopathological characteristics but had longer overall survival time. This is probably due to individualised therapeutic treatment with both surgery and ECT.     

Detection of antibodies and risk factors for infection with bovine respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza virus 3 in dual-purpose farms in Colima, Mexico

A cross-sectional study was carried out, from November 2007 to March 2008, to estimate the prevalence of and to determine risk factors associated with bovine syncytial respiratory virus (BRSV) and parainfluenza 3 virus (PIV3) in dual-purpose herds in Colima, México. One hundred and seventy-six sera from 33 herds for PIV3 and 232 sera from 44 herds for BRSV were used. Sera were analyzed by indirect ELISA for the detection of antibodies against BRSV and PIV3 in cattle herds to determine the seroprevalence of respiratory diseases. The apparent and true prevalences for PIV3 were 60.8% and 54.4% and for BRSV 52.2% and 50.8%, respectively. The percentage of herds showing at least one positive animal was 78.7% for PIV3, and 93.2% for BRSV. Age (≤12, 13-48, and >48?months old) and respiratory signs (no, yes) showed significant association (P?相似文献   

Using operating area size and adjacency constraints to mitigate the effects of harvesting activities on boreal caribou habitat

Context

Sustained timber harvesting conflicts with the long-term viability of boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) populations. The spatial arrangement of harvest blocks in the landscape could mitigate the impact of logging on caribou populations. For the forest industry, however, these measures represent constraints that reduce the annual allowable cut (AAC).

Objective

Estimate the long-term impacts of spatial constraints to harvesting, applied alone or in combination, on AAC and boreal caribou populations.

Methods

We divided a 30,000 km² region into 20 harvest block sizes varying from 50 to 1000 km², and modeled the implementation of spatially explicit harvest schedule plans in combination with wildfire and caribou population dynamics. We then evaluated the probability of persistence of boreal caribou populations.

Results

The probability of maintaining an AAC target declined with increasing target AAC, increasing size of operating area, and increasing adjacency constraints. In contrast, the probability of maintaining caribou populations declined with increasing AAC, decreasing size of operating areas, and decreasing adjacency constraints. An increase in operating area size from 50 to 300 km² produced a considerable gain in AAC for all adjacency constraints.

Conclusions

Because adjacency constraints led only to a small increase in the probability of maintaining caribou populations, we recommend adopting less constraining landscape management actions, such as a 70-year period between two consecutive harvests in the same ~300-km² operating area.

     

Effects of iron injection timing on suckling and subsequent nursery and growing-finishing performance and hematological criteria

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of Fe injection timing after birth on suckling and subsequent nursery and growing-finishing pig performance. The injectable Fe source used in both experiments was GleptoForte (Ceva Animal Health, LLC., Lenexa, KS). GleptoForte contains gleptoferron which is a Fe macromolecule complex. In Exp. 1, a total of 324 newborn pigs (DNA 241 × 600, initially 1.6 ± 0.04 kg body weight [BW]) within 27 litters were used. Two days after birth, all piglets were weighed, and six barrows and six gilts per litter were allotted to 1 of 6 treatments consisting of no Fe injection or 200 mg of injectable Fe provided in a single injection on d 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 of age. Pigs were weaned (~21 d of age) and allotted to nursery pens with all pigs in each pen having received the same Fe treatment. In Exp. 2, a total of 1,892 newborn pigs (PIC 359 × C40; initially 1.5 ± 0.02 kg BW) within 172 litters were used. One day after birth, piglets were weighed, and 11 pigs within each litter were allotted to 1 of 6 treatments consisting of no Fe injection or 200 mg of injectable Fe provided on d 1, 3, 5, or 7 of age, or 200 mg on d 1 plus 200 mg on d 12 of age. Pigs were weaned (19 d of age) and placed in a commercial wean-to-finish facility in a total of 15 pens with equal representation of treatments in each pen. In both experiments, not providing an Fe injection after birth decreased (P < 0.05) preweaning average daily gain (ADG), weaning weight, and hemoglobin and hematocrit values compared with all other treatments. In Exp. 1, increasing the age that piglets received an Fe injection until 4 or 6 d after birth provided marginal evidence for an improvement (quadratic; P = 0.070) in preweaning ADG. For the nursery period, increasing the age that piglets received an Fe injection improved (quadratic; P = 0.013) d 80 BW, but there was no evidence of a difference (P > 0.10) in d 173 BW at the end of the grow-finish period. In Exp. 2, increasing the age that piglets received a 200 mg Fe injection showed no evidence of difference (P > 0.10) for subsequent nursery and growing-finishing ADG. In both experiments, hemoglobin and hematocrit values were decreased (linear; P < 0.05) at weaning with increasing age when pigs received an Fe injection. These experiments suggest that providing a 200 mg Fe injection within 7 d after farrowing is sufficient for optimizing preweaning and subsequent growth performance.     

Effect of Mixing Time and Speed on Experimental Baking and Dough Testing with a 200 g Pin Mixer

Undermixing or overmixing the dough results in varied experimental loaf volumes. Bread preparation requires a trained baker to evaluate dough development and determine the stop points of the mixer. Instrumentation and electronic control of the dough mixer would allow for automatic mixing. This study used a 200 g mixer that provided an output signal during dough mixing to evaluate potential mixing stop points. The effect of varied mixing time on the baked loaf volume was tested by using three flours with protein contents of 10.6, 12.4, and 13.8%. Dough samples were undermixed, mixed to peak, and overmixed. Overmixing by 0.6 min reduced the loaf volume in all flours tested, by 16–50 cm³ at 90 rpm and by 29–68 cm³ at 118 rpm. When the high‐protein flour sample was undermixed, the largest baked loaves were produced, with an average volume of 922 cm³. A second objective studied the similarities and differences between a 200 g mixer and a 35 g mixograph. The same flours were mixed on both units. The mixing peaks for the 200 g mixer were normalized with the 35 g mixograph peaks. When flour and water were used, the mixing times for the 200 g mixer averaged 0.7, 1.2, and 1.6 min shorter than the 35 g mixograph, at 90, 104, and 118 rpm, respectively. Although both the 200 g mixer and the 35 g mixograph system look mechanically similar, they both have unique mechanical motion, speeds, and sample sizes. Their results may show similar trends, but their measured values are usually different. However, when other baking ingredients were included in the 200 g mixer at 90 rpm, the mixing times were within 0.2 min of the 35 g mixograph times for three of four flours.     

Factors associated with development of Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC) in dogs in 5 Canadian small animal clinics

This study investigated the association between presence of respiratory pathogens and development of Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC) in dogs in 5 Canadian small animal clinics. In total, 86 dogs were tested using a commercial PCR respiratory panel; 64 dogs were considered as cases and 22 were control dogs matched by veterinary clinic. No control animals (0/22) were positive for canine parainfluenza virus (CPIV), whereas 27/64 (42%) CIRDC cases were positive. Furthermore, 81% of case dogs tested positive for Mycoplasma cynos, compared with 73% of control dogs. Canine respiratory corona virus (CRCoV) was detected in no control dogs compared with 9.4% of clinical dogs. No animals were positive for any influenza virus type A present in the diagnostic panel. Presence of CPIV was associated (P < 0.01) with the occurrence of CIRDC after adjustment for demographic factors and presence of CRCoV (P = 0.09).     

Variation in E(rns) viral glycoprotein associated with failure of immunohistochemistry and commercial antigen capture ELISA to detect a field strain of bovine viral diarrhea virus

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) affects cattle populations causing clinical signs that range from subclinical immunosuppression to severe reproductive and respiratory problems. Detection and removal of persistently infected (PI) calves is the single most important factor for control and eradication of BVDV. Current testing strategies to detect PI calves rely heavily on immunohistochemistry (IHC) and a commercially available antigen capture ELISA (ACE) assay. These viral assays depend on 1 or 2 monoclonal antibodies which target the E(rns) glycoprotein of BVDV. The sensitivity and specificity of these two tests have been reported previously. The purpose of this research was to characterize a strain of BVDV (AU501) that was undetectable using IHC and ACE based on a single monoclonal antibody, but was consistently detected in samples from a Holstein steer using virus isolation and PCR testing. Sequencing of this AU501 viral isolate revealed a unique mutation in the portion of the genome coding for the E(rns) glycoprotein. This unique field strain of BVDV demonstrates the risk of relying on a single monoclonal antibody for detection of BVDV. Multiple testing strategies, including polyclonal or pooled monoclonal antibodies that detect more than one viral glycoprotein may be necessary to detect all PI calves and facilitate eradication of BVDV.     

Phylogenetic characterization of rabies virus isolates from Carnivora in Brazil

The incidence of canine rabies has been widely reported in Brazil, and new rabies virus (RV) variants, genetically similar to canine RV, have recently been isolated from foxes. In order to derive the epidemiological characteristics of Brazilian Carnivora RV, Brazilian RVs isolated from dogs, cats, and foxes were genetically analyzed. Brazilian Carnivora RV isolates were divided into 2 main lineages. The predominant lineage was found in dogs and cats, which included the Argentinean and Bolivian Carnivora RV isolates, and was extensively distributed throughout Brazil and surrounding countries. The other lineage consisted of three sublineages containing Brazilian dog and fox RV isolates, with the dog sublineages located on an internal branch of 2 fox sublineages, suggesting that RV transmission events might have occurred between foxes and dogs in the past. These results suggest that contact between dogs and wildlife has the potential to generate new rabies variants and that it is important to control RV infection cycles in both dogs and wildlife to prevent spread of rabies infection.