Gastrointestinal parasite screening in pet reptiles in the area of Perth, Western Australia

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária

Evaluación del bienestar equino en el centro militar de cría caballar de Écija (Sevilla)

El bienestar animal surge del conocimiento de los animales como seres que experimentan dolor, sufrimiento o estrés, la importancia del impacto en su salud, su comportamiento y también en su eficiencia reproductiva. La evaluación del bienestar incluye el comportamiento, la salud y la forma en la que los animales responden al manejo y a la gestión de sus condiciones de vida (alojamiento y alimentación). Bajo este estudio se desarrolla e implementa la evaluación del bienestar de los sementales y yeguas de cría de un centro de reproducción estatal, así como los potros de recría, futuros reproductores, mediante el estudio del efecto de las condiciones de manejo, para determinar cómo influyen las condiciones de vida sobre los indicadores de bienestar basados en el animal. Se utilizó un protocolo de evaluación según el modelo Welfare Quality® adaptado a la especie equina que incluye un total de 45 indicadores basados en el animal y basados en el ambiente, de una población total conformada por 196 animales del Centro Militar de Cría Caballar de Écija (Sevilla). Se evaluaron y compararon inicialmente las dos subpoblaciones de equinos adultos con aptitud reproductora constituida por 49 sementales estabulados y 43 yeguas de cría en semilibertad. Posteriormente, se realizó la evaluación de bienestar de 104 potros de recría futuros reproductores que vivían en libertad. Los resultados revelaron diferencias significativas en el estado de bienestar de los animales adultos sometidos a distintas condiciones de manejo. La evaluación del alojamiento y la alimentación puso de manifiesto que en los animales estabulados el área disponible para cada animal en las instalaciones era insuficiente y existía riesgo de lesión, dejaban restos de alimento y la condición corporal estaba aumentada. Se observaron sólo comportamientos anormales en los animales estabulados. También fueron más propensos a mostrar curiosidad en los test de comportamiento y también desviaciones de salud como el rascado en la crin y la cola, cojera, heridas en la región de las extremidades y problemas dentales, como los más destacados. Por el contrario, en las yeguas que vivían en semilibertad, se dieron reacciones de temor en los test de comportamiento, heridas distribuidas fundamentalmente por el cuello, tronco, grupa y regiones genitales, así como escalas de condición corporal disminuida. El análisis de los factores de riesgo usando un modelo de regresión, demostró cómo el manejo en semilibertad se asociaba a la aparición de ciertos trastornos de salud y desviaciones de comportamiento. En la población joven, destacaron las respuestas de curiosidad en los test de comportamiento, la presencia de heridas en las extremidades, descarga nasal, dolor en el dorso, pelos rotos en crin y cola y problemas generalizados de piel, entre otros. La metodología seguida para la evaluación del bienestar mediante la selección de un panel adecuado de indicadores permite determinar la incidencia de problemas de salud y comportamiento de la población reproductora y cómo influye el sistema de manejo, base para intervenciones futuras en la mejora del bienestar animal y su productividad como reproductores.

Medicina veterinária de desastres e catástrofes : contributo para a extensão do Plano Municipal de Emergência de Proteção Civil de Lisboa aos animais de companhia

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária

A importância das Operações Psicológicas articuladas com as Operações de Estabilização

Atualmente e face a uma sociedade em constante mudança, as forças militares precisam ter em conta todos os vetores que compõem as operações. Os vetores descritos são de importância significativa em relação aos efeitos que as operações pretendem alcançar. Procedimentos não-cinéticos permitirão a um comandante obter diferentes resultados que não poderiam ser alcançados sob uma forma cinética. Este estudo pretende elucidar relativamente aos aspetos psicológicos dentro do espectro não-cinético das operações, a fim de destacar as suas habilidades e contribuições num país como o Afeganistão, que depende de ajuda externa para garantir uma melhor fluidez e prosperidade das suas instituições. Operações psicológicas desempenham um contributo fundamental para formas não-cinéticas que levarão a estabilização dessas operações, onde as mudanças comportamentais afetadas contribuirão positivamente para o resultado desejado. E é um trabalho de investigação que não procura alcançar novos conhecimentos, o método hipotético-dedutivo deve aplicar-se, onde, inicialmente, os dados são obtidos por meio da análise de documentos seguidos das entrevistas necessárias que permitirão uma comparação com a doutrina existente. Sendo as operações psicológicas um vetor de ação e embora não sendo uma prioridade, estas agem diretamente sobre o "cérebro da população", estimulando e encorajando mudanças de comportamento contribuindo assim para uma melhor estabilização do teatro de operações.

Tempo gasto em pastejo por novilhas Girolando em sistema integração Lavoura-Pecuária-Floresta.

Objetivou-se com esse trabalho avaliar o tempo gasto em pastejo por novilhas Girolando em área de integração Lavoura-Pecuária (iLP) e integração Lavoura-Pecuária-Floresta (iLPF). Oito novilhas ¾ Holandês x Gir com média de 25 meses de idade e 268 kg de peso vivo foram distribuídas em delineamento cross-over 2x2 (dois sistemas x dois períodos de avaliação) para coleta de dados de bioacústica por 48 horas utilizando gravadores MP3 fixados em cabrestos. Esses dados foram analisados pelo software Audacity®. As médias dos tempos (em minutos) gastos com a atividade de pastejo em cada tratamento (iLP e iLPF) nos períodos diurno e noturno foram comparadas pelo Teste de Tuckey a 5% de probabilidade. Os animais pastejaram mais tempo no período diurno em relação ao noturno (509,11 vs. 233,03 minutos, respectivamente). Houve diferença significativa entre os sistemas durante o período diurno, em que as novilhas no sistema iLPF pastejaram por maior tempo que as do iLP (581,35 vs. 433,88 minutos, respectivamente). Observou-se também que a atividade de pastejo ao longo de todo o dia foi maior no iLPF do que no iLP (333,44 vs. 409,71 minutos, respectivamente). Novilhas Girolando gastam mais tempo pastejando durante o dia e em pastagens com componente arbóreo.

Actividad física, imagen corporal y condiciones de vida. Un abordaje teórico desde los determinantes y la determinación social de la salud

El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la construcción social del conocimiento en Actividad física desde dos planteamientos teóricos de la salud centrando el análisis en la relación con la imagen corporal y las condiciones de vida. Se trata de un estudio teórico desde el análisis de contenido de corte narrativo de 98 artículos desarrollado en cinco etapas a través de: rastreo de documentos en bases de datos en el periodo 2000-2014, revisión de artículos, y análisis y hallazgos de significados, sentidos o contenidos. Como hallazgo importante se puede mencionar que en la literatura científica relacionada con la triada Actividad física-imagen corporal-condiciones de vida predomina la construcción del conocimiento a partir de modelos hegemónicos y dominantes que priorizan la intensidad, la frecuencia y el tiempo dedicado a la AF, la estandarización en la comparación de la apariencia física y la medición de elementos materiales en el modo de vivir de las personas, principalmente desde el abordaje de los determinantes sociales de la salud. Se concluye que es necesario revisar las poblaciones que incluyendo en los estudios al estar concentrados el conocimiento en solo unos grupos; así como se hace explícita la necesidad de revisar cuales son los aportes de la Educación Física y otras disciplinas (ciencias sociales) para una mayor comprensión teórica y práctica de la AF.

Temperatura superficial de bovinos considerando áreas com e sem a presença de pelos.

Nos últimos anos um grande número de estudos utilizando a análise de imagens termográficas de animais na faixa do infravermelho vem sendo realizado. Além dos avanços tecnológicos que tornaram os sensores mais acessíveis, a preocupação com o bem estar e ambiência das instalações animais tem fomentado a utilização desse método não invasivo e de fácil execução. Neste trabalho foram utilizados 20 bovinos das raças Nelore e Pantaneiro. Após tricotomia de uma área sobre o músculo Longissimus dorsi próximo da 13ª costela, seguida de repouso por 24 horas, os animais foram avaliados por três dias consecutivos, seis vezes por dia. Foram aferidas as temperaturas em áreas com e sem pelos com uso de câmera termográfica. O experimento foi realizado em um Delineamento Inteiramente Casualizado (DIC), considerando o efeito de raça. As variáveis temperatura sem pelo (TSP) e a diferença de temperatura entre áreas com e sem pelo (DIF) não apresentaram efeito significativo para raça. Por outro lado, para a temperatura em áreas com pelos(TCP) o efeito de raça foi significativo, com os pantaneiros apresentando as maiores médias. Animais de ambas as raças encontravam-se em condições de conforto térmico durante o experimento. Os resultados mostram a necessidade de se olhar com cautela para trabalhos envolvendo imagens termográficas capturadas em superfícies recobertas por pelos em animais. Como as avaliações foram feitas na sombra e só houve diferença significativa entre áreas com pelos, é possível que as temperaturas registradas com termografia infra vermelha na superfície da pelagem dos animais representem, pelo menos em parte, características termofísicas dos pelos que as compõem (como a capacidade térmica, por exemplo), sendo tais temperaturas pouco representativas para a superfície do corpo dos indivíduos propriamente, como é comum se considerar.

Effect of heat stress on milk production of goats from Alpine and Saanen breeds in Brazil.

The purpose of this bibliography review was to approach the thermal comfort rates on milk production of goats from Alpine and Saanen breeds in Brazil. The caloric stress caused by weather changes to which the animals are submitted, influence on the mechanisms of normal physiological processes of the body. Thus, the effect on the lactation process in goats can be mentioned, where it decreases the amount of water in the body with the consequent decrease in synthesis and milk ejection interfering in the production of hormone prolactin and growth hormone. The animal?s interaction with the environment must be considered when the aim in livestock farming is welfare, because the different responses of the animal to the peculiarities of each region are crucial for the success of the animal adaptation. So, the correct identification of the factors that influence the productive life of the animal, such as the stress caused by the seasonal fluctuations of the environment, allow production systems management, making it possible to make them sustainable and viable. The maintenance of these parameters in normal levels is very important, to the point of being used in the evaluation of climate adaptability of breeds to a certain environmental condition. In this way, the concerns about animal welfare and environmental comfort are due to the climatic variables and the behavioral, physiological and productive responses are prevailing when implementing the suitability of certain production systems.

Animal health challenges and veterinary aspects of organic livestock farming identified through a 3 year EU network project

From 2003-2006, an EU network project ‘Sustaining Animal Health and Food Safety in Organic Farming' (SAFO), was carried out with 26 partners from 20 EU-countries and 4 related partners from 4 candidate or new member states. The focus was the integration of animal health and welfare issues in organic farming with food safety aspects. Four very consistent conclusions became apparent: 1) The climatic, physical and socio-economic conditions vary considerably throughout Europe, leading to different livestock farming systems. This limits the possibility for technology transfer between regions, and creates several challenges for a harmonised regulation, 2) Implementing organic standards at farm level does not always ensure that animal health and welfare reach the high ideals of the organic principles, 3) To overcome these deficiencies, organic farmers and farmer organisations need to take ownership of organic values and, 4) In all participating countries, a strong need for training of farmers and in particular veterinarians in animal health promotion and organic principles was identified. The article presents a summary of papers presented at the five SAFO workshops.

Cloning of farm animals: impact on animal health and welfare and implications in trade

The commercial use of animal cloning for breeding food producing animals has been limited so far by biological and technical constraints such as adverse effects on the health and welfare of animals, especially high perinatal and postnatal disease and mortality of clones. However, the improvement of the technique may overcome those problems in future and contribute to the spread of cloning in agricultural production, which raises concern not only on health and welfare aspects but also on food safety and ethics. This may cause conflict in international trade. The present article reviews these topics on the basis of up-to-date scientific opinions.

Ecological aspects of biosecurity surveillance design for the detection of multiple invasive animal species

Complex surveillance problems are common in biosecurity, such as prioritizing detection among multiple invasive species, specifying risk over a heterogeneous landscape, combining multiple sources of surveillance data, designing for specified power to detect, resource management, and collateral effects on the environment. Moreover, when designing for multiple target species, inherent biological differences among species result in different ecological models underpinning the individual surveillance systems for each. Species are likely to have different habitat requirements, different introduction mechanisms and locations, require different methods of detection, have different levels of detectability, and vary in rates of movement and spread. Often there is a further challenge of a lack of knowledge, literature, or data, for any number of the above problems. Even so, governments and industry need to proceed with surveillance programs which aim to detect incursions in order to meet environmental, social and political requirements. We present an approach taken to meet these challenges in one comprehensive and statistically powerful surveillance design for non-indigenous terrestrial vertebrates on Barrow Island, a high conservation nature reserve off the Western Australian coast. Here, the possibility of incursions is increased due to construction and expanding industry on the island. The design, which includes mammals, amphibians and reptiles, provides a complete surveillance program for most potential terrestrial vertebrate invaders. Individual surveillance systems were developed for various potential invaders, and then integrated into an overall surveillance system which meets the above challenges using a statistical model and expert elicitation. We discuss the ecological basis for the design, the flexibility of the surveillance scheme, how it meets the above challenges, design limitations, and how it can be updated as data are collected as a basis for adaptive management.

Noise sensitivity medical, psychological and genetic aspects

Noise can be defined as unwanted sound. It may adversely affect the health and well-being of individuals. Noise sensitivity is a personality trait covering attitudes towards noise in general and a predictor of noise annoyance. Noise sensitive individuals are more affected by noise than less sensitive individuals. The determinants and characteristics related to noise sensitivity are rather poorly known. The risk of health effects caused by noise can be hypothesized to be higher for noise sensitive individuals compared to those who are not noise sensitive. A cardiovascular disease may be an example of outcomes. The general aim of the present study was to investigate the association of noise sensitivity with specific somatic and psychological factors, including the genetic component of noise sensitivity, and the association of noise sensitivity with mortality. The study was based on the Finnish Twin Cohort of same-sex twin pairs born before 1958. In 1988 a questionnaire was sent to twin pairs discordant for hypertension. 1495 individuals (688 men, 807 women) aged 31 88 years replied, including 573 twin pairs. 218 of the subjects lived in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Self-reported noise sensitivity, lifetime noise exposure and hypertension were obtained from the questionnaire study in 1988 and other somatic and psychological factors from the questionnaire study in 1981 for the same individuals. In addition, noise map information (1988 1992) from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and mortality follow-up 1989 2003 were used. To evaluate the stability and validity of noise sensitivity, a new questionnaire was sent in 2002 to a sample of the subjects who had replied to the 1988 questionnaire. Of all subjects who had answered the question on noise sensitivity, 38 % were noise sensitive. Noise sensitivity was independent of noise exposure levels indicated in noise maps. Subjects with high noise sensitivity reported more transportation noise exposure than subjects with low noise sensitivity. Noise sensitive subjects reported transportation noise exposure outside the environmental noise map areas almost twice as often as non-sensitive subjects. Noise sensitivity was associated with hypertension, emphysema, use of psychotropic drugs, smoking, stress and hostility, even when lifetime noise exposure was adjusted for. Monozygotic twin pairs were more similar with regards noise sensitivity than dizygotic twin pairs, and quantitative genetic modelling indicated significant familiality. The best fitting genetic model provided an estimate of heritability of 36 %. Follow-up of subjects in the case-control study showed that cardiovascular mortality was significantly increased among noise sensitive women, but not among men. For coronary heart mortality the interaction of noise sensitivity and lifetime noise exposure was statistically significant in women. In conclusion, noise sensitivity has both somatic and psychological components. It does aggregate in families and probably has a genetic component. Noise sensitivity may be a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in women.

Very Low Birth Weight Infants as Young Adults : Focus on aspects of cognition, behavior and sleep

Major advances in the treatment of preterm infants have occurred during the last three decades. Survival rates have increased, and the first generations of preterm infants born at very low birth weight (VLBW; less than 1500 g) who profited from modern neonatal intensive care are now in young adulthood. The literature shows that VLBW children achieve on average lower scores on cognitive tests, even after exclusion of individuals with obvious neurosensory deficits. Evidence also exists for an increased risk in VLBW children for various neuropsychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related behavioral symptoms. Up till now, studies extending into adulthood are sparse, and it remains to be seen whether these problems persist into adulthood. The aim of this thesis was to study ADHD-related symptoms and cognitive and executive functioning in young adults born at VLBW. In addition, we aimed to study sleep disturbances, known to adversely affect both cognition and attention. We hypothesized that preterm birth at VLBW interferes with early brain development in a way that alters the neuropsychological phenotype; this may manifest itself as ADHD symptoms and impaired cognitive abilities in young adulthood. In this cohort study from a geographically defined region, we studied 166 VLBW adults and 172 term-born controls born from 1978 through 1985. At ages 18 to 27 years, the study participants took part in a clinic study during which their physical and psychological health was assessed in detail. Three years later, 213 of these individuals participated in a follow-up. The current study is part of a larger research project (The Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults), and the measurements of interest for this particular study include the following: 1) The Adult Problem Questionnaire (APQ), a self-rating scale of ADHD-related symptoms in adults; 2) A computerized cognitive test battery designed for population studies (CogState®) which measures core cognitive abilities such as reaction time, working memory, and visual learning; 3) Sleep assessment by actigraphy, the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire, and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Actigraphs are wrist-worn accelerometers that separate sleep from wakefulness by registering body movements. Contrary to expectations, VLBW adults as a group reported no more ADHD-related behavioral symptoms than did controls. Further subdivision of the VLBW group into SGA (small for gestational age) and AGA (appropriate for gestational age) subgroups, however, revealed more symptoms on ADHD subscales pertaining to executive dysfunction and emotional instability among those born SGA. Thus, it seems that intrauterine growth retardation (for which SGA served as a proxy) is a more essential predictor for self-perceived ADHD symptoms in adulthood than is VLBW birth as such. In line with observations from other cohorts, the VLBW adults reported less risk-taking behavior in terms of substance use (alcohol, smoking, and recreational drugs), a finding reassuring for the VLBW individuals and their families. On the cognitive test, VLBW adults free from neurosensory deficits had longer reaction times than did term-born peers on all tasks included in the test battery, and lower accuracy on the learning task, with no discernible effect of SGA status over and above the effect of VLBW. Altogether, on a group level, even high-functioning VLBW adults show subtle deficits in psychomotor processing speed, visual working memory, and learning abilities. The sleep studies provided no evidence for differences in sleep quality or duration between the two groups. The VLBW adults were, however, at more than two-fold higher risk for sleep-disordered breathing (in terms of chronic snoring). Given the link between sleep-disordered breathing and health sequelae, these results suggest that VLBW individuals may benefit from an increased awareness among clinicians of this potential problem area. An unexpected finding from the sleep studies was the suggestion of an advanced sleep phase: The VLBW adults went to bed earlier according to the actigraphy registrations and also reported earlier wake-up times on the questionnaire. In further study of this issue in conjunction with the follow-up three years later, the VLBW group reported higher levels of morningness propensity, further corroborating the preliminary findings of an advanced sleep phase. Although the clinical implications are not entirely clear, the issue may be worth further study, since circadian rhythms are closely related to health and well-being. In sum, we believe that increased understanding of long-term outcomes after VLBW, and identification of areas and subgroups that are particularly vulnerable, will allow earlier recognition of potential problems and ultimately lead to improved prevention strategies.

The potential role of fruit and vegetables in aspects of psychological well-being: a review of the literature and future directions

The objective of the present paper was to review the literature investigating the potential relationship between fruit and vegetables (FV) and psychological well-being. The rising prevalence of mental ill health is causing considerable societal burden. Inexpensive and effective strategies are therefore required to improve the psychological well-being of the population, and to reduce the negative impact of mental health problems. A growing body of literature suggests that dietary intake may have the potential to influence psychological well-being. For example, studies have suggested that particular dietary constituents, including vitamins and minerals, might be beneficial to psychological health. However, in order to better reflect normal dietary intake, health-based research has increasingly begun to focus on whole foods and dietary patterns, rather than individual nutrients. One food group that has received increasing attention with regard to psychological health is FV. This is probably a result of the strong evidence base, which exists in relation to their protective association with a number of chronic diseases, as well as the fact that they are a rich source of some of the nutrients which have been linked to psychological health. While some promising findings exist with regards to FV intake and psychological well-being, overall, results are inconsistent. Possible reasons for this, such as methodological issues related to study design and the measurement of psychological well-being and FV intake, are discussed within this review. Based on the predominantly observational nature of existing literature, the present paper concludes that future well-designed randomised controlled trials are required to investigate the relationship further.