Behavior of ewes and lambs subjected to restraint fostering

The objective of this study was to investigate the development of maternal-filial social attachments between ewes and alien lambs using the technique of "restraint fostering." Forty-eight to 72 h after parturition, 22 Targhee -type ewes were separated from their natural lambs, placed in restraining devices ( stanchions ) and each exposed to a single alien lamb. After a period of 1 or 4 d of restraint, the ewes were subjected to five 10-min lamb acceptance tests over a 48-h period. The observer recorded butts and butt attempts by the ewe and successful and unsuccessful suckle attempts by the lamb. The ewe-lamb pairs were then housed in pens with other groups of ewes and lambs and observed intermittently for acceptance behaviors. Six of the 14 ewes restrained for 4 d and none of the eight ewes restrained for 24 h met the criterion for successful adoption within 48 h. After being housed in group pens, adoptions were achieved by three ewes in the 1-d group and an additional four ewes in the group restrained for 4 d. Ewes restrained for 24 h were significantly more aggressive toward fostered young than ewes restrained for 4 d. In addition, the proportion of successful suckling attempts was significantly lower for lambs fostered on ewes in the 1-d group. Both groups showed a decline in butts and butt attempts over successive acceptance tests, but while the proportion of successful suckling attempts declined for lambs housed with 1-d ewes, they increased over time for lambs fostered on ewes restrained for 4 d.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

漳河水库入库洪水抗误差预报方案

漳河水库由观音寺水库和鸡公尖水库通过半天然明槽相互连通组成，因受库水位观测、明槽输水计算、动库容计算误差等的复杂影响，以往多次建立的洪水预报方案均未达到可供应用的水平。在分析漳河水库入库洪水误差产生特点的基础上，通过建立抗误差产汇流预报模型和自适应实时校正技术，使漳河水库洪水预报方案平均确定性系数达91.09%，洪峰合格率达100%，峰现时间合格率达90.91%；观音寺水库洪水预报方案的平均确定性系数达90.63%，洪峰合格率达100%，峰现时间合格率达100%，终于建立了达到甲等水平的漳河水库洪水预报应用方案。     

Prevention of coccidiosis in domestic dogs and captive coyotes (Canis latrans) with sulfadimethoxine-ormetoprim combination

Sulfadimethoxine-ormetoprim combination was evaluated as a coccidiostat against experimentally induced coccidiosis in young dogs and coyotes (Canis latrans). The animals were experimentally inoculated with 50,000 or 100,000 sporulated oocysts of Isospora ohiohensis (98%) and Isospora canis (2%). In experiment 1, daily treatment for 13 to 23 days with a combination of 27.5 mg of sulfadimethoxine/kg of body weight (BW) and 5.5 mg of ormetoprim/kg of BW admixed to the feed resulted in no significant (P greater than 0.05) difference in fecal oocyst counts between treated and nontreated groups of dogs or coyotes. In experiment 2, treatment with a combination of 55 mg of sulfadimethoxine/kg of BW and 11 mg of ormetoprim/kg of BW for 23 days was 99.8% effective against Isospora spp infections in dogs. Significantly (P less than 0.05) fewer oocysts were present in feces of treated dogs than were present in feces of nontreated dogs from first passage of oocysts at day 4 to the end of the patent period at days 19 to 21. After the 2nd week of treatment, BW of treated dogs were significantly greater (P less than 0.05) than BW of nontreated dogs. Evidence of drug toxicity was not observed clinically or by serum chemical analyses.     

Rhabdomyosarcoma associated with the lead wire of a pacemaker generator implant

An 11‐year‐old female spayed Labrador Retriever was presented for a draining, painful subcutaneous mass palpated over a previously implanted pacemaker generator. Infection was suspected and the mass was removed surgically. On cut surface, the mass was friable and mottled tan to brown with firm pale tan nodules, surrounding the pacemaker lead wire adjacent to the pacemaker generator. Cytologic interpretation of impression smears was consistent with a sarcoma, and suggestive of a rhabdomyosarcoma due to the presence of strap‐like cells. On histopathologic examination, a highly invasive nodular mass surrounded the pacemaker lead, composed of pleomorphic round, spindle and strap cells, and multinucleated giant cells. The population exhibited microscopic invasion into the deep portion of the fibrous capsule surrounding the pacemaker generator. There were tumor emboli within small to medium subcutaneous veins adjacent to the mass. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells stained positive for α‐sarcomeric actin and vimentin, and negative for α‐smooth muscle actin, consistent with a rhabdomyosarcoma arising at the site of the pacemaker generator. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a rhabdomyosarcoma associated with the lead wire of a pacemaker generator in a dog.     

The effect of footrot on body weight and wool growth of sheep

Body weight and traits associated with production of wool were measured over a 2-year period between 1985 and 1987 in south-western New South Wales in a flock of Merino wethers experimentally infected with footrot. The disease was allowed to spread freely amongst 150 of the flock but kept at very low prevalence in the remaining 50 by preventive footbathing during transmission periods. Severe, underrunning footrot had a significant adverse effect on body weight, for each year of the trial. Body weight was most severely reduced at times of the year when footrot was spreading among animals and lesions were severe. The mean body weight of the infected group at the end of the 2 years of observation was 7.3 kg (11.6%) below that of the control group. Footrot also depressed wool growth, with the mean clean fleece weight of the infected group being 0.4 kg (8%) lighter than that of the controls at each of the 2 annual shearings. There were no consistent differences between the groups for the other wool characteristics measured.     

Computational improvements reveal great bacterial diversity and high metal toxicity in soil

The complexity of soil bacterial communities has thus far confounded effective measurement. However, with improved analytical methods, we show that the abundance distribution and total diversity can be deciphered. Reanalysis of reassociation kinetics for bacterial community DNA from pristine and metal-polluted soils showed that a power law best described the abundance distributions. More than one million distinct genomes occurred in the pristine soil, exceeding previous estimates by two orders of magnitude. Metal pollution reduced diversity more than 99.9%, revealing the highly toxic effect of metal contamination, especially for rare taxa.