Animal consumption of antibiotics and chemotherapeutic drugs in Sweden during 1980, 1982 and 1984

The total animal consumption of antibiotic and chemotherapeutic drugs in Sweden during 1980, 1982 and 1984 has been studied. The study also included coccidiostatic, antiparasitic and antimycotic drugs. The total animal consumption during the years mentioned was 66.1, 68.8 and 72.6 tons of active substance, respectively, and the amount of antibacterial drugs for therapy was 28.7 (43.4%), 29.1 (42.5%) and 34.1 (47.0%) tons, respectively. Tetracycline, penicillin, sulphonamide and aminoglycoside were the four major groups of antibiotics used for therapy of bacterial infections in animals. The consumption was related to the metabolic bodyweights of animals which were the potential consumers. A comparison was also made with the corresponding human consumption during 1980. The data on antibiotic consumption can be divided by county and compared to the animal population and disease situation in each county. This study thus offers a good base for further investigations on different aspects of the use of antibiotics.     

Road and railway verges serve as dispersal corridors for grassland plants

The role of linear habitat strips as dispersal corridors is a disputed topic. Reports concerning their significance for animals have been contradictory, and the functions of corridors have been difficult to study in the case of sedentary organisms such as plants. Previous studies on dispersal of plants along corridors have concentrated on a single or a few species at a time. We developed a general method, a generalisation of the binomial test, for considering dispersal or spatial relations of a large group of species. Particularly, we studied the ability of grassland plants to spread along road and railway verges. Our data set consists of plant lists collected at study plots scattered irregularly along road and railway networks. The dispersal ability was assessed by testing whether the species composition at neighbouring sites – measured along roads and railways – reflects spatial dependence within each species. Our result showed that similar combinations of grassland species occurred at neighbouring sites more often than expected in a spatially independent case. We argue that management of verges and spatial autocorrelation of environmental factors were not responsible for the result and thereby we conclude that grassland plants use road and railway corridors for dispersal. This result is encouraging in regards to preservation of grassland plant populations. Although semi-natural and natural grasslands have become scarce, road and railway embankments may partly compensate for this loss, serving as substitute habitats and dispersal routes.     

Pancreatic Degenerative Atrophy and Chronic Pancreatitis in Dogs a Comparative Study of 60 Cases

During the years 1977–1980 60 cases of non-neoplastic chronic exocrine pancreatic disease in dogs were investigated clinically and pathologically. The disorders were clinically divided into pancreatic degenerative atrophy (PDA) and chronic pancreatitis. Fifty dogs had PDA and 45 of them were German shepherd dogs. The PDA cases formed both clinically and pathologically a homogeneous group except for 1 case. All the dogs had maldigestion and protease activity was absent from the faeces. General inanition and highly atrophic pancreas were the most typical macroscopic findings. Histologically the exocrine pancreas contained atypical acinar tissue and mononuclear cell infiltrations. Five of the dogs died spontaneously, 4 of them had intestinal torsion and 1 had paralytic ileus.There were 10 dogs with chronic pancreatitis. This group was rather heterogeneous both clinically and pathologically. The pancreas was slightly enlarged and the consistency was firm. The histologic picture was one of fibrous tissue proliferation and inflammatory cell infiltrations in the interstitium. The dogs nutritional state as well as faecal protease activity were normal.     

Paper submitted for the nineth international drainage workshop (ICID)

The environmental benefits of water table management (WTM), as a method to reduce nitrate pollution, are well known. However, there are few published studies on the effects of WTM on water use efficiency (WUE). This paper highlights the agronomic interest of WTM for increasing WUE of irrigated grain corn production. A field study was conducted in 2001 and 2002 at a large scale WTM research facility in Québec, Canada. The region experienced periods of drought during the two growing seasons. This study shows that, by keeping the water table at 0.80 m below the soil surface, there were on average 35% increases in grain corn yields, compared to conventional free drainage. The WUEs obtained with WTM (5.1 kg m⁻³ in 2001 and 7.1 kg m⁻³ in 2002) indicate that the method is generally more water efficient than conventional sprinkler and furrow irrigation. The WUE of WTM also compares well with that of water conservation methods such as alternate furrow irrigation and deficit sprinkler irrigation. Moreover, WTM requires low inputs in terms of equipment, energy, and labour, because it makes use of existing subsurface drainage systems, which are widespread in Eastern Canada due to the region's soils and climate, and because of its design, which does not necessitate high-pressure pumps and allows for automated management. Hence, WTM appears to be an interesting alternative to conventional irrigation methods due to its combined environmental and agronomical benefits.     

Clinical signs and etiology of adverse reactions to procaine benzylpenicillin and sodium/potassium benzylpenicillin in horses

Case reports of 59 horses reacting adversely to procaine benzylpenicillin or to sodium or potassium benzylpenicillin in Sweden in 2003-2005 were obtained through contacts with horse-owners. For the assessment of the reports, various parameters were evaluated, such as the times to the reactions, information on previous penicillin treatment, the clinical signs and the actions taken in the reacting horses. Among the reports, two horses had received sodium or potassium benzylpenicillin intravenously, whereas the remaining 57 horses had been treated with procaine benzylpenicillin intramuscularly. Allergy may underlie the adverse reactions in the horses given sodium and potassium benzylpenicillin, and in a few of the horses given procaine benzylpenicillin. However, in most horses in the latter group, the clinical signs may be due to the toxic effects of procaine. In these horses, the dominating clinical signs were locomotor and behavioral changes. Some risk factors may enhance the probability that horses react to procaine. One is repeated injections, which increase the likelihood of intravascular administration and also may increase the sensitivity to procaine due to neuronal sensitization (kindling). Procaine is rapidly hydrolyzed by plasma esterases to nontoxic metabolites. When high amounts of procaine enter the circulation, the hydrolyzing capacity may be exceeded and toxicity occurs. Analyses of plasma esterases from reacting horses showed lower activity than in nonreacting control horses. Low esterase activity may increase the possibility of procaine toxicity and constitute another risk factor.     

Multiple cutaneous ganglioneuromas in a dog

A 3-year-old male Labrador retriever dog was presented with multifocal small cutaneous nodules, distributed mainly over the thoracic wall, the flank and the scrotum. The dog was otherwise in good health and had no significant past medical history. Radio- and sonographic examination revealed no evidence of internal tumours, including endocrine tumours. Histological examination of two excised samples revealed round, non-ulcerated nodules in the superficial corium, characterized by two different neoplastic cell components and mild inflammation. The first tumour cell population showed histomorphological characteristics of mature ganglion cells; the second featured small, spindle-shaped tumour cells with scant cytoplasm. Both neoplastic cell components expressed vimentin, neurofilament protein, pan-neuronal neurofilament, amyloid-precursor protein and chromogranin A. In addition, the spindle-shaped tumour cells were positive for 2', 3'-cyclicnucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase. The findings had many histological and immunohistochemical features in common with primary cutaneous ganglioneuromas in humans, enabling the canine tumours to be also classified as multiple cutaneous ganglioneuromas.     

Clinical, cytogenetic and hormonal findings in a stallion with hypospadias--a case report

This case report describes a three-year-old Friesian stallion with hypospadias. Physical examination revealed a ventrocaudal deviation of the shaft of the penis and an incomplete glans penis. The urethral opening was 4 cm in length, slit-like and had a mucous membrane covering. A short fold ran from the ventral aspect of the anus and ended with a non-pigmented hairless area of skin. A human choriongonadotropin (hCG)-stimulation test resulted in an increase in the plasma levels of estrogen sulfate and testosterone, indistinguishable from that of a normal stallion. The karyogram had a normal number of chromosomes at 2n=64. The stallion was castrated, and histological evaluation of the testicular tissue was unremarkable. In contrast to other animal species and human beings, hypospadias is a rare congenital abnormality in stallions, the cause of which could not be elucidated in our patient.     

Study on biological variation of haemostatic parameters in clinically healthy dogs

Thromboelastography (TEG) may be a valuable supplement to the coagulation assays activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen, antithrombin (AT) and D-Dimer currently used in most clinical pathology laboratories. Allowable imprecision and bias reference limits for analytical tests can be calculated based on measurements of biological variation. No studies to date have examined the effect of biological variation on these haemostasis parameters in the same group of dogs. Plasma samples were collected after a set protocol once weekly for five consecutive weeks from eight healthy dogs (four males and four females) and stored at -80 degrees C until analysis. Randomized duplicate coagulation tests and TEG analyses were performed on all plasma samples within one run. The data were analyzed for outliers and subsequently subjected to nested analysis of variance to obtain the coefficient of analytical, intra-individual and inter-individual variation. From these objective analytical performance standards for imprecision, critical difference, total error and the index of individuality were calculated to assess the utility of conventional population-based reference ranges. All the clotting times (aPTT, PT and TT), fibrinogen, AT and D-Dimer showed a degree of individuality, which may make the use of population-based reference ranges alone an insensitive interpretation criterion, whereas a population-based reference interval seems to be sensitive for interpreting all TEG parameters. Analytical performance standards for imprecision were only met for one of the coagulation assays, whereas all TEG parameters except the alpha angle, alpha achieved this analytical goal.