Temporary indwelling rectal liner for use in horses with rectal tears

A temporary indwelling liner was surgically installed in 17 horses with grade III or grade IV rectal tears. The rectal tears of 9 of the horses healed. The remaining 8 horses developed peritonitis as a result of peritoneal contamination before surgery, a change in grade of the tear, or material failure.     

Pharmacokinetics of phenobarbital in the horse

Pharmacokinetics of phenobarbital was examined in 6 mature horses after 12 mg of phenobarbital/kg of body weight was infused over 20 minutes. Biexponential decrease in serum phenobarbital concentrations was observed with a distribution-phase half-life of 0.101 +/- 0.086 hour (mean +/- SD) and a terminal-phase elimination half-life of 18.3 +/- 3.65 hours. The volume of distribution at steady state was 0.803 +/- 0.070 L/kg. Total body clearance of phenobarbital was 30.8 +/- 6.2 ml/h/kg. The high clearance in the horse seems to explain the markedly shorter half-life of phenobarbital in this species. Seemingly, 6.65 mg of phenobarbital/kg as a 20-minute infusion given every 12 hours would provide approximate peaks of 29 micrograms/ml and troughs of 15 micrograms/ml. A loading dose of 12 mg of phenobarbital/kg would be appropriate for this regimen.     

An ELISA with Brucella lipopolysaccharide antigen for the diagnosis of B. melitensis infection in sheep and for the evaluation of serological responses following subcutaneous or conjunctival B. melitensis strain Rev 1 vaccination.

An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with unpurified Brucella melitensis smooth lipopolysaccharide (S-LPS) as antigen was evaluated for the serological diagnosis of B. melitensis infection in sheep in comparison with the Rose Bengal (RB), complement fixation (CF), radial immunodiffusion (RID), microplate agglutination (MA) and rivanol agglutination (RIV) tests. Tests RB and CF detected as positive each of the 77 sera from B. melitensis-infected animals tested, the RID (74), MA (76) and the RIV (72) were less sensitive. However, all tests compared were negative when 77 sera from Brucella-free rams were tested. While subcutaneous Rev 1 vaccination induced high response levels in any of the tests, low level responses were obtained upon conjunctival vaccination, particularly in ELISA and RID tests.     

Diagnosis and management of a patent urachus in a white rhinoceros calf (Ceratotherium simum simum).

A 10-day-old female southern white rhinoceros calf (Ceratotherium simum simum) was diagnosed with a patent urachus after urine was observed dribbling from the umbilicus. After being separated from its mother, the animal was sedated with i.m. butorphanol and anesthetized with isoflurane in oxygen for surgical correction of the patent urachus. Mild postoperative complications involved seroma formation and partial skin incision dehiscence, which necessitated three follow-up immobilizations for reevaluation and treatment of the surgical site. Histopathology did not reveal an infectious etiology as the cause for the complications or for the patent urachus. The etiology of the patent urachus in this animal remains undetermined. This report represents the first documented case of a patent urachus in a white rhinoceros.     

Epistaxis in two horses with dacryohemorrhea.

Unilateral epistaxis in 2 horses was caused by inflammation of the distal portion of the lacrimal system. The origin of epistaxis was identified during physical examination by observing hemorrhage emanating from the nasal opening of the nasolacrimal duct. Dacryohemorrhea caused by bacterial infection was successfully treated with antibacterial drugs administered systemically and instilled into the lacrimal system.     

Spatial variability in the mineralisation of the phenylurea herbicide linuron within a Danish agricultural field: multivariate correlation to simple soil parameters

The spatial variability in the mineralisation rate of linuron [N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N'-methoxy-N'-methylurea] was studied within a previously treated Danish agricultural field by sampling soils from eleven different plots randomly distributed across an area of 20 x 20 m. The soils were characterised with respect to different abiotic and biotic properties including moisture content, organic matter content, pH, nutrient content, bacterial biomass, potential for mineralisation of MCPA [(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)acetic acid] and linuron. Five soils had a potential for mineralisation of linuron, with 5-15% of the added [ring-U-14C]linuron metabolised to 14CO2 within 60 days at 10 degrees C, while no extensive mineralisation of linuron was observed in the six remaining soils within this period. A TLC analysis of the methanol-extractable residues showed no development of 14C-labelled metabolites from linuron in any of the samples. Multivariate analysis was conducted to elucidate relationships between the intrinsic properties of single soil samples and initial rate of linuron mineralisation. The analysis indicated that important soil parameters in determining the spatial heterogeneity included the C(total)/N(total) ratio, pH and the water-extractable potassium contents, with the first of these highly negatively correlated and the last two highly positively correlated to the initial linuron mineralisation rate. This study shows that enhanced biodegradation of linuron may develop with successive field treatments, but that considerable in-field spatial heterogeneity in the degradation rate still exists. Combined with a parallel enrichment study focused on the underlying microbial processes, the present results suggest that intrinsic soil properties affect the linuron-metabolising bacterial population and thereby determine the spatial variability in the linuron mineralisation activity.     

Identification of carcass and meat quality quantitative trait loci in a Landrace pig population selected for growth and leanness

The identification of QTL related to production traits that are relevant for the pig industry has been mostly performed by using divergent crosses. The main objective of the current study was to investigate whether these growth, fatness, and meat quality QTL, previously described in diverse experimental populations, were segregating in a Landrace commercial population selected for litter size, backfat thickness, and growth performance. We have found QTL for carcass weight (posterior P > 0.75), cutlet weight (posterior P > 0.99), weight of ham (posterior P > 0.75), shoulders weight (posterior probability > 0.99), and shear firm-ness (posterior P > 0.99) on pig Chromosome 2. Moreover, QTL with posterior P > 0.75 for fat thickness between the 3rd and 4th ribs (Chromosome 7), rib weights (Chromosome 8), backfat thickness (Chromosomes 8, 9, and 10), and b Minolta color component (Chromosome 7) were identified. These results indicate that commercial purebred populations retain a significant amount of genetic variation, even for traits that have been selected for many generations.     

Lectin histochemical investigations of the distal gut of chicks with special emphasis on the follicle-associated epithelium

Carbohydrates on epithelial cell surfaces play an important role as attachment sites for different microorganisms like bacteria, viruses and protozoa. To obtain more information about the distribution of carbohydrates on the luminal surface along the intestine, lectin histochemical studies on different gut segments of chicks of different age groups were carried out using a panel of 13 lectins with specificities for Man, Glc, Gal, GalNAc, GlcNAc or GlcNAc oligosaccharides and Sia. Furthermore, we tried to find out whether previously reported specificities of certain lectins for M cells (membranous or multifold cells) in the bursa of Fabricius (BF) can be observed also on M cells of the intestine. As a result we were able to demonstrate binding of all lectins employed in these studies in all investigated gut segments. In some cases, the application of the same lectin led to varying staining intensities of the same histological structures in different age-groups (e.g. staining of the brush border with WGA, LEA, MAA or Conarva) or different gut segments (e.g. staining of goblet cells with CMA II, LEA and MPA). Hence, terminal carbohydrate residues of glycoconjugates on the intestinal epithelium vary depending on age and organ site. As glycoconjugates can act as attachment sites for microorganisms, these differences in the distribution of sugar residues may be one explanation for the site-specificity of certain pathogens. Furthermore, the binding of lectins to the follicle-associated epithelium (FAE) of the BF differs from that to the FAE of the intestine again stressing the site specificity of lectin binding. Thus, up to now no universal M-cell marker along the chicken intestine exists.