Environmental Monitoring of Rock Carvings in Scandinavia

In the Scandinavian countries, Norway and Sweden, increased weathering rate of cultural property such as rock carvings, mostly dated between 4200 ? 500 BC, has become a serious problem. Observations during the last decades have shown severe deterioration due to a combination of natural and anthropogenic influences. In order to study the rate of weathering of the rock carvings an interdisciplinary group from Norway and Sweden was formed to carry out environmental monitoring on one site in each country, one of them belonging to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The results from this investigation have elucidated the problems concerning weathering of silicate rock surfaces and the different parameters causing the deterioration. Based on the obtained results some counter measures in order to preserve the rock carvings have been tested.     

Pup mortality in laboratory mice – infanticide or not?

Background

Despite being the most commonly used mammal in biomedical research, problems with perinatal mortality in mice have received little attention and the causes of pup death are still poorly known. Females are often housed alone with their litters and since the lost pups are generally eaten, it is commonly assumed that the mother has killed them. However, more detailed observations than have been reported previously in the literature are required to establish if the cause of death is infanticide. Litter loss can only be prevented efficiently after underlying causes have been carefully investigated and interpreted. The aim of this study was to investigate if females actively kill their pups by observing the behaviour of females and pups in litters that later were lost. We used video recordings of females that lost their entire litter to observe females in detail from parturition until the pups died. In total, 10 C57BL/6 females (wildtype and the knockouts Hfe^−/− and β2m^−/−) were studied, housed in Makrolon II cages with or without access to a small amount of nesting material.

Results

Three of the females had pups that were never seen moving, and another three females had one or two pups that never moved, indicating that some pups were most likely still-born. In five females with live-born pups, detailed observations from the time when a pup was last seen moving until it died were possible to carry out. We observed females eating dead offspring and interacting with both moving and dead pups. However, we never observed a pup stop moving when manipulated by the female, nor were any wounds seen in the pups. Hence, we found no evidence of infanticide when studying females that had lost their entire litter.

Conclusion

These results suggest that other causes than infanticide plays a major role in mouse pup death, and stress the need for more systematic and careful investigations of the causality of litter loss.     

Commercial diet recommendations and follow-up for a large breed puppy with an intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

A 6-month-old, intact male Great Dane dog fed a veterinary therapeutic liver diet was evaluated after diagnosis of an intrahepatic portosystemic shunt and hind limb angular limb deformity to determine appropriateness of diet. Evaluation of the current diet revealed it to be inadequate to meet the nutrient requirements of a large breed puppy. The dog clinically improved following a change in diet. There was no longer any angular limb deformity and no reported neurological signs. This report highlights the importance of appropriate feeding management during growth and demonstrates that although veterinary therapeutic diets may appear to be an appropriate choice initially, they may not be ideal for growing puppies as a long-term feeding option.Key clinical message:An individual approach is key for nutritional management of complicated canine veterinary medical cases and includes consideration of the patient’s life stage requirements when modifying nutrient intake to manage clinical disease.     

Comparison of milk protein composition in a Swedish and a Danish dairy herd using reversed phase HPLC

Abstract

The milk composition in a Swedish herd, consisting of Swedish Red and White cows (SRB) and Swedish Holstein cows (SLB), and in a Danish herd, consisting of Danish Holstein-Friesian cows (SDM), was evaluated. Concentrations of the major milk proteins (κ-casein, α_S1-casein, β-casein, β-lactoglobulin A, β-lactoglobulin B and α-lactalbumin) of 134 individual milk samples were determined by reversed phase (RP) HPLC. Other parameters determined included milk fat, urea, lactose, calcium, lactoferrin, somatic cell count and protein degradation (determined as level of free amino-terminals). Analysis of variance was used to compare concentrations of analysed milk variables between SRB and SLB or between SLB and SDM. Concentration of total protein, total casein, β-casein and κ-casein were significantly higher in SRB milk compared with SLB milk. Concentration of α-lactalbumin and calcium were significantly higher in SDM milk than in SLB milk. The concentration of urea was higher in SLB than in SDM milk and is suggested to reflect differences in feeding regimes between the investigated Swedish and Danish herd.     

Evaluation of egg quality in broodstock cobia Rachycentron canadum L.

Twenty egg batches spawned naturally from 17 different females over two spawning seasons were used to evaluate the egg quality of cobia Rachycentron canadum. A reduction in egg size was observed towards the end of the spawning season for both years. The proportion of floating eggs demonstrated a positive linear relationship with both yolk‐sac larval survival (r²=0.91, P<0.05) and batch larval production (r²=0.80, P<0.01). Viable egg batches (i.e. fertilization success >50%) were of higher batch fecundity, had larger eggs and a higher proportion of floating eggs than non‐viable batches (i.e. 0% fertilization success). Also, biochemical analyses revealed that these viable eggs had significantly higher protein and amino acid contents. A multiple regression model based on the proportion of floating eggs, batch fecundity and fertilization success provided the most accurate predictions of batch larval production (r²=0.95, P<0.001). Similarly, using the egg content of arginine/glycine and methionine significantly increased the correlation coefficient in the multiple regression model predicting larval deformity (r²=0.92, P=0.002). This study reveals that accurate determination of egg quality in cobia can be improved using a combination of several variables rather than a single variable.