Evaluation of glycated glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide in intestinal tissue of normal and diabetic animal models

Glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide (tGLP-1) is an important insulin-releasing hormone of the enteroinsular axis which is secreted by endocrine L-cells of the small intestine following nutrient ingestion. The present study has evaluated tGLP-1 in the intestines of normal and diabetic animal models and estimated the proportion present in glycated form. Total immunoreactive tGLP-1 levels in the intestines of hyperglycaemic hydrocortisone-treated rats, streptozotocin-treated mice and ob/ob mice were similar to age-matched controls. Affinity chromatographic separation of glycated and non-glycated proteins in intestinal extracts followed by radioimmunoassay using a fully crossreacting anti-serum demonstrated the presence of glycated tGLP-1 within the intestinal extracts of all control animals (approximately 19%., of total tGLP-1 content). Chemically induced and spontaneous animal models of diabetes were found to possess significantly greater levels of glycated tGLP-1 than controls, corresponding to between 24-71% of the total content. These observations suggest that glycated tGLP-1 may be of physiological significance given that such N-terminal modification confers resistance to DPP IV inactivation and degradation, extending the very short half-life (

Testing bone substitutes in a small animal model of revision arthroplasty

This study evaluated a modification of the rat-pin model to enable testing of bone substitute materials. The model was characterized using the ceramic, beta-tricalcium phosphate (betaTCP) as a filler.

Effectiveness of different footbath solutions in the treatment of digital dermatitis in dairy cows

Three experiments were conducted to test the effectiveness of different footbath solutions and regimens in the treatment of digital dermatitis (DD) in dairy cows. During the study, groups of cows walked through allocated footbath solutions after milking on 4 consecutive occasions. All cows were scored weekly for DD lesion stage on the hind feet during milking. A “transition grade” was assigned on the basis of whether the DD lesions improved (1) or deteriorated or did not improve (0) from week to week. This grade per cow was averaged for all cows in the group. In experiment 1, 118 cows were allocated to 1 of 3 footbath treatments for 5 wk: (1) 5% CuSO4 each week, (2) 2% ClO- each week, or (3) no footbath (control). The mean transition grade, and proportion of cows without DD lesions at the end of the trial were significantly higher for treatment 1 above (0.36, 0.13, and 0.11, respectively; standard error of the difference, SED=0.057). In experiment 2, 117 cows were allocated to 1 of 4 footbath treatment regimens for 8 wk: (1) 5% CuSO4 each week, (2) 2% CuSO4 each week, (3) 5% CuSO4 each fortnight, or (4) 2% CuSO4 each fortnight. For welfare reasons, cows allocated to the weekly and fortnightly footbath regimens had an average prevalence of >60% and =25% active DD at the start of the trial, respectively. Significantly more cows had no DD lesions (0.53 vs. 0.36, respectively; SED=0.049), and the mean transition grade of DD lesions was higher in the 5% compared with the 2% weekly CuSO4 treatment (0.52 vs. 0.38, respectively; SED=0.066). Similarly, significantly more cows had no DD lesions in the 5% compared with the 2% fortnightly CuSO4 treatments (0.64 vs. 0.47, respectively; SED=0.049). In experiment 3, 95 cows were allocated to 1 of 3 footbath treatments: (1) each week alternating 5% CuSO4 with 10% salt water, (2) each week alternating 5% CuSO4 with water, or (3) 5% CuSO4 each fortnight (control). After 10 wk, more cows had no DD in the salt water treatment than in the control treatment (0.35 vs. 0.26, respectively; SED=0.038), but levels of active lesions were higher for this treatment than in the other 2 treatments (0.17, 0.00, and 0.13, respectively; SED=0.029). Treatment did not affect mean transition grade of DD lesions. In conclusion, CuSO4 was the only footbath solution that was consistently effective for treatment of DD. In cases when DD prevalence was high, a footbath each week using 5% CuSO4 was the most effective treatment.

Welfare epidemiology as a tool to assess the welfare impact of inherited defects on the pedigree dog population

The effect that breed standards and selective breeding practices have on the welfare of pedigree dogs has recently come under scrutiny from both the general public and scientific community. Recent research has suggested that breeding for particular aesthetic traits, such as tightly curled tails, highly domed skulls and short muzzles predisposes dogs with these traits to certain inherited defects, such as spina bifida, syringomyelia and brachycephalic airway obstruction syndrome, respectively. Further to this, there is a very large number of inherited diseases that are not related to breed standards, which are thought to be prevalent, partly as a consequence of inbreeding and restricted breeding pools. Inherited diseases, whether linked to conformation or not, have varying impact on the individuals affected by them, and affect varying proportions of the pedigree dog population. Some diseases affect few breeds but are highly prevalent in predisposed breeds. Other diseases affect many breeds, but have low prevalence within each breed. In this paper, we discuss the use of risk analysis and severity diagrams as means of mapping the overall problem of inherited disorders in pedigree dogs and, more specifically, the welfare impact of specific diseases in particular breeds.

Recent advances in the analysis of behavioural organization and interpretation as indicators of animal welfare

While the incorporation of mathematical and engineering methods has greatly advanced in other areas of the life sciences, they have been under-utilized in the field of animal welfare. Exceptions are beginning to emerge and share a common motivation to quantify 'hidden' aspects in the structure of the behaviour of an individual, or group of animals. Such analyses have the potential to quantify behavioural markers of pain and stress and quantify abnormal behaviour objectively. This review seeks to explore the scope of such analytical methods as behavioural indicators of welfare. We outline four classes of analyses that can be used to quantify aspects of behavioural organization. The underlying principles, possible applications and limitations are described for: fractal analysis, temporal methods, social network analysis, and agent-based modelling and simulation. We hope to encourage further application of analyses of behavioural organization by highlighting potential applications in the assessment of animal welfare, and increasing awareness of the scope for the development of new mathematical methods in this area.

Tails of animal attraction: Incorporating the feline into the family

Increased urbanization and female employment have led to the cat overtaking the dog as the companion animal of preference. However, thisarticle looks beyond lifestyle changes as reasons for the popularity of the cat. The article explores the emotional consumer-socialization processinvolving the incorporation of the cat into the family. Subjective personal introspection (SPI) and supporting vignettes of female humans in theirfamilies (all of which were high-involvement owners) explore the hows and whys of feline incorporation. The study identifies several categories ofincorporation. The findings suggest that this complex process involves many factors — namely, consumer socialization, intergenerationalinfluence, brand loyalty, commitment, near-instant loyalty, immediacy, distress, anthropomorphism, and nostalgia. These factors underpin theintimacy and care the human–feline relationship expresses. The ability for humans and cats to bond in a way that fosters emotional intimacy canbe considered one of the purest forms of relationships.© 2007 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Conservation genetics of Neotropical pollinators revisited: microsatellite analysis suggests that diploid males are rare in orchid bees

Allozyme analyses have suggested that Neotropical orchid bee (Euglossini) pollinators are vulnerable because of putative high frequencies of diploid males, a result of loss of sex allele diversity in small hymenopteran populations with single locus complementary sex determination. Our analysis of 1010 males from 27 species of euglossine bees sampled across the Neotropics at 2-11 polymorphic microsatellite loci revealed only 5 diploid males at an overall frequency of 0.005 (95% CIs 0.002-0.010); errors through genetic non-detection of diploid males were likely small. In contrast to allozyme-based studies, we detected very weak or insignificant population genetic structure, even for a pair of populations >500 km apart, possibly accounting for low diploid male frequencies. Technical flaws in previous allozyme-based analyses have probably led to considerable overestimation of diploid male production in orchid bees. Other factors may have a more immediate impact on population persistence than the genetic load imposed by diploid males on these important Neotropical pollinators.

Animal-borne sensors successfully capture the real-time thermal properties of ocean basins

Climate change is perhaps the most pressing and urgent environmental issue facing the world today. However our ability to predict and quantify the consequences of this change is severely limited by the paucity of in situ oceanographic measurements. Marine animals equipped with sophisticated oceanographic data loggers to study their behavior offer one solution to this problem because marine animals range widely across the world's ocean basins and visit remote and often inaccessible locations. However, unlike the information being collected from conventional oceanographic sensing equipment, which has been validated, the data collected from instruments deployed on marine animals over long periods has not. This is the first long-term study to validate in situ oceanographic data collected by animal oceanographers. We compared the ocean temperatures collected by leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Atlantic Ocean with the ARGO network of ocean floats and could find no systematic errors that could be ascribed to sensor instability. Animal-borne sensors allowed water temperature to be monitored across a range of depths, over entire ocean basins, and, importantly, over long periods and so will play a key role in assessing global climate change through improved monitoring of global temperatures. This finding is especially pertinent given recent international calls for the development and implementation of a comprehensive Earth observation system ( see http://iwgeo.ssc.nasa.gov/documents.asp?s=review) that includes the use of novel techniques for monitoring and understanding ocean and climate interactions to address strategic environmental and societal needs.

Arteriolar involvement in the microvascular lesions of diabetic retinopathy: Implications for pathogenesis

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most widespread complication of diabetes mellitus and a major cause of blindness in the working population of developed countries. The clinicopathology of the diabetic retina has been extensively studied, although the relative contribution of the various biochemical and molecular sequelae of hyperglycemia remains ill defined. Many neural and microvascular abnormalities occur in the retina of short-term diabetic animals but it remains uncertain how closely these acute changes relate to chronic human disease. It is important to determine the relationship between alterations observed within the first weeks or months in short-term aminal models, and human disease, where clinically manifest retinopathy occurs only after durations of diabetes measured in years. This review is focused on the retinal microvasculature, although it should be appreciated that pathological changes in this system often occur in parallel with abnormalities in the neural parenchyma that may be derivative or even causal. Nevertheless, it is useful to reevaluate the microvascular lesions that are manifest in the retina during diabetes in humans and long-term animal models, since in addition to providing useful clues to the pathogenic basis of DR as a disease entity, it is in the deterrence of such changes that the efficacy of any novel treatment regimes will be measured. In particular, an emphasis will be placed on the relatively unappreciated role of arteriolar dysfunction in the clinical manifestations and pathology of this disease.

Advances in the Genetics of Familial Renal Cancer

We discuss recent advances in the diagnosis and management of renal cell cancer (RCC) given the enhanced molecular genetics knowledge in this area. A number of hereditary renal cancer syndromes have been described, including von Hippel-Lindau disease, Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, hereditary leiomyomatosis/RCC syndrome, and hereditary papillary renal cancer. Early molecular diagnosis now facilitates the management and prevention of RCC in families. Recommendations for screening in families are discussed. The Oncologist 2010;15:532-538