Helping students learn veterinary physiology through the use of concept maps

Concept maps have become a ubiquitous tool in education in the last 20 years and are used extensively to teach scientific concepts. A concept map is a tool learners can use to organize information about a topic in terms of key concepts and the relationships among them. As a graphical representation, the map provides an overall picture of a particular concept or topic. This article describes how we have used concept maps to teach physiology to veterinary medical and veterinary technician students enrolled in our on-campus and distance-learning programs.     

汇率及利率调整对商品进出口的影响

中国人民银行日前宣布,经国务院批准．自2005年7月21日起,我国开始施行以市场供求为基础、参考一篮子货币进行调节、有管理的浮动汇率制度。针对广大现货生产、加工、贸易企业关心的人民币汇率变动对利率以及进出口的影响,笔者略作探讨。     

野生金头闭壳龟的资源现状调查

笔者于2001-2004年对金头闭壳龟(Cuoraaurocapitata)的野生种群的分布、数量及相关生态学进行了专项调查。结果表明,金头闭壳龟目前仅分布于青弋江源头和上游即北纬30°-30°52′的少数支流中,具体为安徽省泾县的古坝、蔡村和孤峰三地的山涧溪流以及黟县红星乡的清溪河流域。野外种群数量十分稀少,目前已不足400只。金头闭壳龟主要栖息在水质清澈、两侧植被茂密或一侧山脚多石缝的山涧溪流中。经对曾经发现过金头闭壳龟典型地带的各种生态指标的测量表明,泾县古坝乡沈村上沈村段的古坝河段的以及蔡村乡的东园至爱民段的丁溪河段,相比而言仍不失为金头闭壳龟较为理想的栖息地。     

大豆黄酮对荷斯坦牛乳中蛋白质和脂肪含量的影响

22头初胎荷斯坦牛,随机分成两组。试验组于预产期前10d添喂大豆黄酮(80mg/d·头),在产后3d、10d和17d采取反射乳样品,测定其中蛋白质和脂肪含量。结果显示:添加大豆黄酮后,初乳(第3天)中的蛋白质和脂肪含量较对照组分别升高30.11%(P<0.01)和18.94%(P<0.05);常乳中的蛋白质和脂肪含量比对照组略高(P>0.05)。提示:大豆黄酮对乳成分的影响主要是提高主要营养成分蛋白质和脂肪的含量,改善初乳的品质,以提供幼畜丰富的营养     

胰腺干细胞的研究进展

概述了胰腺干细胞的分布、胰腺的发生、胰腺干细胞的相关标记物以及胰腺干细胞的体外分离培养、增殖、分化等领域的研究进展，并对胰腺干细胞的生物学特征、体外分离培养时遇到的困难等进行了探讨，针对所遇到的困难提出了一些改进意见。     

A preliminary investigation of Ehrlichia species in ticks, humans, dogs, and capybaras from Brazil

A molecular epidemiologic investigation in two Brazilian states (Rondônia and São Paulo) was undertaken to determine if Ehrlichia species responsible for human and animal ehrlichioses in North America could be found in Brazilian vectors, potential natural mammalian reservoirs and febrile human patients with a tick bite history. Samples, including 376 ticks comprising 9 Amblyomma species, 29 capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) spleens, 5 canine blood, and 75 human blood samples from febrile patients with history of tick bites were tested by a real-time PCR assay targeting a fragment of the Ehrlichia dsb gene. Ehrlichia DNA was not detected in any tick, capybara or human samples. In contrast, 4 out of 5 dogs contained Ehrlichia canis DNA in their blood, which were sequenced, representing the first report of E. canis infecting dogs in the Amazon region of Brazil. Further studies are needed to evaluate the presence of other agents of human and animal ehrlichioses in Brazil.     

Early detection of viral excretion from experimentally infected goats with peste-des-petits ruminants virus

We observed 15 goats for 9 days after subcutaneous infection with 10(3) TCID(50) with isolates of peste-des-petits ruminants virus from Africa and India and five concurrent, uninfected control goats. Typical clinical signs of the infection were present in all 15 infected goats by day 8 and in most by day 6 and some signs were present by day 4. However, 6 out of 15 goats already have detectable virus shedding by day 3 and four more were shedding by day 4 and every goat had virus shedding for at least 1 day before the recognition of clinical signs. This experiment indicates that incubatory carriers therefore might play a role in the transmission of PPRV among small ruminants.     

A field study on the efficacy of doramectin against strongyles and its egg reappearance period in horses

The aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy and the so-called "egg reappearance period" (ERP) of doramectin in horses naturally infected with strongyles during a period of 34 weeks. A group of yearlings of 10 animals was treated intramuscularly with doramectin at a dose rate of 0.2 mg/kg bodyweight (BW) at the begin of the grazing season. To obtain comparable data, another group of yearlings (n = 10) was treated orally with ivermectin at a dose rate of 0.2 mg/kg BW. Individual faecal samples were examined for strongyle egg counts per gram of faeces (EPG) in two-week intervals. Twelve weeks later, a second treatment was given in both groups with the respective anthelmintic followed by a third treatment when the group mean egg count reached > or = 200 EPG. The efficacy of doramectin was > or = 96 % and that of ivermectin 100%, based on the mean egg counts two weeks post treatments (wpt). The highest and the lowest extensity of the efficacy (average values) for doramectin were 90% and 41% two and ten wpt, respectively, whereas these values for ivermectin differed from 100% (two wpt) to 24.3% (eight wpt). The ERP was found to be 10 and 8 weeks for doramectin and ivermectin, respectively.     

猪败血性链球菌与附红细胞体混合感染病例

猪败血性链球菌病是猪链球菌感染引起的一种急性败血性传染病,猪附红细胞体病是由猪附红细胞体寄生于猪红细胞而引起的一种散在的热性、溶血性传染病.本文以某猪场这2种病混合感染病例为题材,从发病基本情况、临床症状、剖检变化、实验室检验、防治措施等6个方面对该混合感染病例做了详尽的阐述.     

Isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from the gall bladder of inoculated and naturally-infected cattle

To determine if Escherichia coli O157:H7 is capable of residing in the gall bladder of cattle, inoculation studies were conducted with O157:H7 strain 86-24 in weaned Holstein calves. Strain 86-24 was isolated from the gall bladders of five calves 36 days after inoculation. Two other calves contained the inoculation strain in the distal colon but the organism was absent in their gall bladders. A second trial in which the calves were euthanized 15 days after inoculation found strain 86-24 in six of seven inoculated calves but only in colon and/or rumen samples. In a third trial that inoculated eight calves with a four-strain cocktail of O157:H7 strains, the gall bladders from all eight animals were positive 9 days after inoculation. The colon and rumen samples from these calves were also positive. E. coli O157:H7 isolates recovered from bile samples and subtyped by pulsed field gel electrophoresis found that three of the four inoculation strains were present in one or more of the calves. Thus, residence in the gall bladder is not restricted to a single strain. Additional evidence of the ability to localize in the gall bladder of cattle was provided by testing the bile from 150 gall bladders (five collection dates, 30 samples each) obtained at an abbatoir and the isolation of E. coli O157:H7 from four samples (2.7%). This study establishes that E. coli O157:H7 can reside transiently or permanently at a low level in the gall bladder of cattle.