Snake bites recorded by veterinary practices in Australia

Objective To determine the extent of the snake bite problem in domestic animals, its regional significance and the effects of antivenom treatment.
Design A questionnaire was designed seeking information on the number and type of domestic animals referred, whether treated or untreated, type of snakes and management of the bite.
Procedure The survey form was sent to 10% of veterinary surgeons, selected at random throughout Australia.
Results The response of 106 veterinary surgeons revealed that snake bite in domestic animals is frequent, with an estimated 6200 cases reported annually. Bites were more prominent in rural (78%) than urban areas (22%) with brown, tiger and black snakes accounting for 76%, 13% and 6% of cases, respectively. Cats and dogs were the most frequently reported victims. Ninety-one percent of cats and 75% of dogs survived following the administration of antivenom whereas 66% of cats and 31% of dogs survived without antivenom. Overall, in 33% of cases antivenom was not used, and venom detection kits were used in only 1% of cases. A number of drugs were used in various combinations with or without antivenom and intravenous fluids in the treatment of animals with snake bite, but their role in reducing the severity of envenomations was not assessed.
Clinical implications Antivenom significantly improves the chances of survival of domestic animals bitten by snakes.     

Impact of foot-and-mouth disease on mastitis and culling on a large-scale dairy farm in Kenya

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly transmissible viral infection of cloven hooved animals associated with severe economic losses when introduced into FMD-free countries. Information on the impact of the disease in FMDV-endemic countries is poorly characterised yet essential for the prioritisation of scarce resources for disease control programmes. A FMD (virus serotype SAT2) outbreak on a large-scale dairy farm in Nakuru County, Kenya provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of FMD on clinical mastitis and culling rate. A cohort approach followed animals over a 12-month period after the commencement of the outbreak. For culling, all animals were included; for mastitis, those over 18 months of age. FMD was recorded in 400/644 cattle over a 29-day period. During the follow-up period 76 animals were culled or died whilst in the over 18 month old cohort 63 developed clinical mastitis. Hazard ratios (HR) were generated using Cox regression accounting for non-proportional hazards by inclusion of time-varying effects. Univariable analysis showed FMD cases were culled sooner but there was no effect on clinical mastitis. After adjusting for possible confounders and inclusion of time-varying effects there was weak evidence to support an effect of FMD on culling (HR = 1.7, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.88-3.1, P = 0.12). For mastitis, there was stronger evidence of an increased rate in the first month after the onset of the outbreak (HR = 2.9, 95%CI 0.97-8.9, P = 0.057).

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-015-0173-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Evaluation of the effect of ketoprofen on experimentally induced ephemeral fever in dairy heifers

Objective To evaluate ketoprofen for the therapy of ephemeral fever.
Design A blind controlled clinical trial.
Animals Sixteen cattle (one immature Holstein bull, eight Holstein and seven Jersey heifers).
Procedure Ephemeral fever was induced by the intravenous injection of blood leucocyte layer from a clinical case. Ketoprofen solution or a coded placebo was injected intramuscularly at the rate of 3 mg/kg daily for three days.
Results Ketoprofen reversed locomotor dysfunctions significantly compared with controls, but did not have any effect on rectal temperatures, leucocyte counts, plasma fibrinogen concentrations, ionised Ca-concentrations or the presence of dyspnoea.
Conclusion Ketoprofen is a safe and effective drug for the treatment of locomotor symptoms of milk fever, but has no effect on the duration of clinical respiratory abnormalities.     

Platinized chloroplasts: a novel photocatalytic material

Colloidal platinum was prepared and precipitated directly onto photosynthetic thylakoid membranes from aqueous solution and entrapped on fiberglass filter paper. This composition of matter was capable of sustained simultaneous photoevolution of hydrogen and oxygen when irradiated at any wavelength in the chlorophyll absorption spectrum. Experimental data support the interpretation that part of the platinum metal catalyst is precipitated adjacent to the photosystem I reduction site of photosynthesis and that electron transfer occurs across the interface between photosystem I and the catalyst. Photoactivity of the material was dependent on the nature of the ionic species from which the platinum was precipitated. All photoactive samples were prepared from the hexachloroplatinate(IV) ion, whereas samples prepared by precipitation of the tetraammineplatinum(II) ion showed no hydrogen evolution activity and only transient oxygen activity. This system is among the simplest known for photosynthetically splitting water into molecular hydrogen and oxygen.     

Hf-W Isotopic Evidence for Rapid Accretion and Differentiation in the Early Solar System

The time scales over which inner solar system objects accreted and differentiated are unclear because the isotopic systems of many meteorites are disturbed. 182Hf decays to 182W with a half-life of 9 million years and is a particularly useful chronometer because both elements are highly refractory and immobile. Tungsten isotopic data for IIA, IIIA, IVA, and anomalous iron meteorites and H, L, and LL chondrites indicate that their parent bodies accreted rapidly and segregated metal within just a few million years.     

Fire effects and short-term changes in soil water repellency – Mt. Carmel,Israel

The Mediterranean ecosystem of the Carmel Mountain ridge in Israel is subjected to an increasing number of forest fires of various extents and severities due to intense human activities in the region. On 8 April 2005, a low-moderate severity forest fire occurred at the northwestern part of the ridge and burned more than 150 ha of natural vegetation. Soil water repellency (WR) is a property usually modified by the litter and soil organic matter combustion as a consequence of fire, which has implications for the hydrological balance in the affected soils. A field study was conducted with the following objectives: 1) to investigate in situ WR changes at three soil depths as a consequence of the fire, 2) to evaluate the short-term evolution of WR under field conditions, and 3) to study the relationship between pre-fire vegetation type and slope aspect on the persistence of WR in the burned area. Soil WR was measured by the Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) test. Measurements were conducted monthly at 31 field sites within the burned area over a period of seven months (April 2005–November 2005), and compared to adjacent unburned areas. Soil WR measurements included more than 3400 WDPT tests at soil surface and at 5 and 10 cm depths. The results indicate that fire induced WR in previously wettable soils exhibited high levels of persistence at the soil surface during the first six weeks after the fire, while at 5 cm depth WR persistence was lower. At 10 cm depth soil was mostly wettable. After six weeks the frequency of WR occurrence diminished at the soil surface and at 5 cm depth. In addition, WR was found to be highly related with the pre-fire vegetation type and with slope aspect.     

In Vivo and In Vitro Sperm Interaction with Oviductal Epithelial Cells of Llama

Sperm reservoirs in South American Camelids would be crucial for successful fertilization. Since ovulation occurs approximately 36 h after mating, the maintenance of the sperm viability in the oviduct waiting for the ovum is a critical reproductive event. Our study aimed at determining whether the isthmus or the utero tubal junction (UTJ) could function as a sperm reservoir in llama by means of in vivo and in vitro experiments. For the in vivo experiments, the oviducts of adult females with a dominant follicle bigger than 7 mm were examined for the presence of sperm at 6, 18, 24, 28 and 35 h after mating. The results using scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed ultrastructural differences between isthmus and UTJ with respect to (1) predominance of secretory cells in the UTJ and ciliated cells in the isthmus epithelium and (2) cytoplasmic bulbous projection of the secretory cells in the UTJ. Sperm adhered by a mucus‐like substance were seen only in the UTJ at 6, 18, 24 and 28 h post‐mating. Lack of sperm adhered to oviductal mucosa was observed around ovulation (35 h). In vitro experiments demonstrated higher ability of UTJ epithelial cell explants with respect to isthmus explants to bind sperm in a co‐cultured system. The anatomical features and the presence of a sperm bonding agent in the UTJ together with the in vitro differential binding of sperm to UTJ explants strongly suggest that both may be feasible mechanisms that facilitate sperm storage in this oviductal region in llama.