Evaluation of an immunobiosensor for the on-site testing of veterinary drug residues at an abattoir. Screening for sulfamethazine in pigs

A study was conducted to determine the feasibility of performing

Development and validation of a method for the confirmation of nicarbazin in chicken liver and eggs using LC-electrospray MS-MS according to the revised EU criteria for veterinary drug residue analysis

A method is described for the quantitative confirmation of 4,4'-dinitrocarbanilide (DNC), the marker residue for nicarbazin in chicken liver and eggs. The method is based on LC coupled to negative ion electrospray MS-MS of tissue extracts prepared by liquid-liquid extraction. The [M-H](-) ion at m/z 301 is monitored along with two transition ions at m/z 137 and 107 for DNC and the [M-H](-) ion at m/z 309 for the internal standard, d(8)-DNC. The method has been validated according to the new EU criteria for the analysis of veterinary drug residues at 100, 200 and 300 mug kg(-1) in liver and at 10, 30 and 100 mug kg(-1) in eggs. Difficulties concerning the application of the new analytical limits, namely the decision limit (CC) and the detection capability (CC) to the determination of DNC in both liver and eggs are discussed.

Gross anatomy of the muscle systems of Fasciola hepatica as visualized by phalloidin-fluorescence and confocal microscopy

Neuropeptides, biogenic amines and acetylcholine are expressed abundantly within the nervous systems of parasitic flatworms, and are particularly evident in the innervation of the musculature. Such associations have implicated the nervous system in locomotion, host attachment and reproductive co-ordination. Information on the muscle systems of parasitic flatworms is generally sparse, in particular those muscles associated with the reproductive system, intestinal tract and attachment apparatus. Also, the use of sectioned material has left description of the 3-dimensional organization of the musculature largely unrecorded. Using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled phalloidin as a site-specific probe for filamentous actin, applied to whole-mount preparations of adult Fasciola hepatica and examined by confocal scanning laser microscopy, the present work reports on the organization of the major muscle systems in this trematode parasite. A highly regular array of outer circular, intermediate longitudinal and inner diagonal fibres distinguishes the body wall musculature, which is also involved in the development of both ventral and oral suckers. Circular fibres dominate the duct walls of the male and female reproductive systems, whereas the muscles of the intestinal tract have a somewhat diffuse arrangement of fibres. An understanding of the structural complexity of the muscle systems of parasitic flatworms is considered as fundamental to the interpretation of results from physiological experiments.

Optimizing the balance between false positive and false negative error probabilities of confirmatory methods for the detection of veterinary drug residues

GC-MS data on veterinary drug residues in bovine urine are used for controlling the illegal practice of fattening cattle. According to current detection criteria, peak patterns of preferably four ions should agree within 10 or 20% from a corresponding standard pattern. These criteria are rigid, rather arbitrary and do not match daily practice. A new model, based on multivariate modeling of log peak abundance ratios, provides a theoretical basis for the identification of analytes and optimizes the balance between the avoidance of false positives and false negatives. The performance of the model is demonstrated on data provided by five laboratories, each supplying GC-MS measurements on the detection of clenbuterol, dienestrol and 19 beta-nortestosterone in urine. The proposed model shows a better performance than confirmation by using the current criteria and provides a statistical basis for inspection criteria in terms of error probabilities.

Stability during cooking of anthelmintic veterinary drug residues in beef

Anthelmintic drugs are widely used for treatment of parasitic worms in livestock, but little is known about the stability of their residues in food under conventional cooking conditions. As part of the European Commissionfunded research project ProSafeBeef, cattle were medicated with commercially available anthelmintic preparations, comprising 11 active ingredients (corresponding to 21 marker residues). Incurred meat and liver were cooked by roasting (40 min at 190°C) or shallow frying (muscle 8-12 min, liver 14-19 min) in a domestic kitchen. Raw and cooked tissues and expressed juices were analysed using a novel multi-residue dispersive solid-phase extraction method (QuEChERS) coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. After correction for sample weight changes during cooking, no major losses were observed for residues of oxyclozanide, clorsulon, closantel, ivermectin, albendazole, mebendazole or fenbendazole. However, significant losses were observed for nitroxynil (78% in fried muscle, 96% in roast muscle), levamisole (11% in fried muscle, 42% in fried liver), rafoxanide (17% in fried muscle, 18% in roast muscle) and triclabendazole (23% in fried liver, 47% in roast muscle). Migration of residues from muscle into expressed cooking juices varied between drugs, constituting 0% to 17% (levamisole) of total residues remaining after cooking. With the exception of nitroxynil, residues of anthelmintic drugs were generally resistant to degradation during roasting and shallow frying. Conventional cooking cannot, therefore, be considered a safeguard against ingestion of residues of anthelmintic veterinary drugs in beef. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

The effects of climate change on ovine parasitic gastroenteritis determined using veterinary surveillance and meteorological data for Northern Ireland over the period 1999-2009

While the influence of temperature and moisture on the free-living stages of gastrointestinal nematodes have been described in detail, and evidence for global climate change is mounting, there have been only a few attempts to relate altered incidence or seasonal patterns of disease to climate change. Studies of this type have been completed for England Scotland and Wales, but not for Northern Ireland (NI). Here we present an analysis of veterinary diagnostic data that relates three categories of gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep to historical meteorological data for NI. The infections are: trichostrongylosis/teladorsagiosis (Teladorsagia/Trichostrongylus), strongyloidosis and nematodirosis. This study aims to provide a baseline for future climate change analyses and to provide basic information for the development of nematode control programmes. After identifying and evaluating possible sources of bias, climate change was found to be the most likely explanation for the observed patterns of change in parasite epidemiology, although other hypotheses could not be refuted. Seasonal rates of diagnosis showed a uniform year-round distribution for Teladorsagia and Trichostrongylus infections, suggesting consistent levels of larval survival throughout the year and extension of the traditionally expected seasonal transmission windows. Nematodirosis showed a higher level of autumn than Spring infection, suggesting that suitable conditions for egg and larval development occurred after the Spring infection period. Differences between regions within the Province were shown for strongyloidosis, with peaks of infection falling in the period September-November. For all three-infection categories (trichostrongylosis/teladorsagiosis, strongyloidosis and nematodirosis), significant differences in the rates of diagnosis, and in the seasonality of disease, were identified between regions. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Trip from a Tube to a Chip Applied Micro and Nanotechnology in Biotechnology, Veterinary and Life Sciences

More than 200 known diseases are transmitted via foods or food products. In the United States, food-borne diseases are responsible for 76 million cases of illness, 32,500 cases of hospitalisation and 5000 cases of death yearly. The ongoing increase in worldwide trade in livestock, food, and food products in combination with increase in human mobility (business- and leisure travel, emigration etc.) will increase the risk of emergence and spreading of such pathogens. There is therefore an urgent need for development of rapid, efficient and reliable methods for detection and identification of such pathogens.

Microchipfabrication has had a major impact on electronics and is expected to have an equally pronounced effect on life sciences. By combining micro-fluidics with micromechanics, micro-optics, and microelectronics, systems can be realized to perform complete chemical or biochemical analyses. These socalled ’Lab-on-a-Chip’ will completely change the face of laboratories in the future where smaller, fully automated devices will be able to perform assays faster, more accurately, and at a lower cost than equipment of today. A general introduction of food safety and applied micro-nanotechnology in life sciences will be given. In addition, examples of DNA micro arrays, micro fabricated integrated PCR chips and total integrated lab-on-achip systems from different National and EU research projects being carried out at the Laboratory of Applied Micro- Nanotechnology (LAMINATE) group at the National Veterinary Institute (DTU-Vet) Technical University of Denmark and the BioLabchip group at the Department of Micro and Nanotechnology (DTU-Nanotech), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Ikerlan-IK4 (Spain) and other 16 partners from different European countries will be presented.

The anatomy of Last Glacial Maximum climate variations in south Westland, New Zealand, derived from pollen records

We present pollen records from three sites in south Westland, New Zealand, that document past vegetation and inferred climate change between approximately 30,000 and 15,000 cal. yr BP. Detailed radiocarbon dating of the enclosing sediments at one of those sites, Galway tarn, provides a more robust chronology for the structure and timing of climate-induced vegetation change than has previously been possible in this region. The Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra, a key isochronous marker, affords a precise stratigraphic link across all three pollen records, while other tie points are provided by key pollen-stratigraphic changes which appear to be synchronous across all three sites. Collectively, the records show three episodes in which grassland, interpreted as indicating mostly cold subalpine to alpine conditions, was prevalent in lowland south Westland, separated by phases dominated by subalpine shrubs and montane-lowland trees, indicating milder interstadial conditions. Dating, expressed as a Bayesian-estimated single 'best' age followed in parentheses by younger/older bounds of the 95% confidence modelled age range, indicates that a cold stadial episode, whose onset was marked by replacement of woodland by grassland, occurred between 28,730 (29,390-28,500) and 25,470 (26,090-25,270) cal. yr BP (years before AD, 1950), prior to the deposition of the Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra. Milder interstadial conditions prevailed between 25,470 (26,090-25,270) and 24,400 (24,840-24,120) cal. yr BP and between 22,630 (22,930-22,340) and 21,980 (22,210-21,580) cal. yr BP, separated by a return to cold stadial conditions between 24,400 and 22,630 cal. yr BP. A final episode of grass-dominated vegetation, indicating cold stadial conditions, occurred from 21,980 (22,210-21,580) to 18,490 (18,670-17,950) cal. yr BP. The decline in grass pollen, indicating progressive climate amelioration, was well advanced by 17,370 (17,730-17,110) cal. yr BP, indicating that the onset of the termination in south Westland occurred sometime between ca 18,490 and ca 17,370 cal. yr BP. A similar general pattern of stadials and interstadials is seen, to varying degrees of resolution but generally with lesser chronological control, in many other paleoclimate proxy records from the New Zealand region. This highly resolved chronology of vegetation changes from southwestern New Zealand contributes to the examination of past climate variations in the southwest Pacific region. The stadial and interstadial episodes defined by south Westland pollen records represent notable climate variability during the latter part of the Last Glaciation. Similar climatic patterns recorded farther afield, for example from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, imply that climate variations during the latter part of the Last Glaciation and the transition to the Holocene interglacial were inter-regionally extensive in the Southern Hemisphere and thus important to understand in detail and to place into a global context. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Book review of Atlas of Anatomy by Patrick W. Tank and Thomas R. Gest:Book review of Atlas of Anatomy

Book review of Atlas of Anatomy by Patrick W. Tank and Thomas R. Gest

Picture Quiz: Know your anatomy.

A 25 year old man was brought into the emergency
department by ambulance. He was involved in a road
traffic incident and had an obvious site of blood loss from
a fracture of an upper limb. On his arrival at the
emergency department, you are told that the ambulance
paramedic was unable to gain intravenous access and
are asked by the person in charge of resuscitation to try
to gain access. You are unable to find any peripheral
veins because he is hypovolemic. You attempt to put in a
central line via the femoral vein (fig 1).

Potential impacts of climate change on veterinary medicinal residues in livestock produce: An island of Ireland perspective

Residues of veterinary medicines are a food safety issue regulated by European legislation. The occurrence of animal diseases necessitating application of veterinary medicines is significantly affected by global and local climate changes. This review assesses potential impacts of climate change on residues in food produced on the island of Ireland. Use of various classes of veterinary drugs in light of predicted local climate change is reviewed with particular emphasis on anthelmintic drugs and consideration is given to residues accumulating in the environment. Veterinary medicine use is predicted to increase as disease burdens increase due to varied climate effects. Locally relevant mitigation and adaptation strategies are suggested to ensure climate change does not adversely affect food safety via increasing drug residues.