Iowa Animal Industry News, 2012, Vol. 13, no. 1

Newsletter produced by Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship about the animal industry in Iowa. Previously titled Animal Industry News.

Extensive circumferential endoscopic mucosal resection with a new rigid esophagoscope: an animal study

RÉSUME Les techniques de résection muqueuse endoscopique utilisées actuellement ne permettent pas d'effectuer une résection circonférentielle d'un long segment de muqueuse oesophagienne. Une telle résection permettrait le traitement de foyers multicentriques de dysplasies de haut grade (HGIN) ou d'adénocarcinomes précoces (AC) développés sur oesophage de Barrett. Sachant que la prévalence des métastases ganglionnaires régionales est d'environ 7 % pour les adénocarcinomes intra-muqueux (Tis,T1a), les méthodes de traitement non-chirurgicales et moins invasives sont actuellement préférées à une oesophagectomie, dont la morbidité et la mortalité restent élevées en comparaison avec les mucosectomies endoscopiques. Un oesophagoscope rigide modifié a été développé à Lausanne en collaboration avec la maison Karl Storz GmbH, de façon à permettre des résections muqueuses étendues dans l'oesophage. Cette étude animale pilote a investigué la faisabilité et la fiabilité des résections muqueuses circonférentielles de différentes longueurs dans l'oesophage du mouton. Des résections circonférentielles de 2,2 cm (n=6), 3,3 cm (n=6), 4,4 cm (n=7) et 5,5 cm (n=5) de longueur ont été effectuées dans l'oesophage de 24 moutons. Elles consistaient en 2 mucosectomies hémi-circonférentielles opposées. Les animaux ont été suivis par des examens endoscopiques à une semaine puis chaque mois pendant 6 mois ou jusqu'à réépithélialisation complète sans sténose. Au cours du processus de guérison, les sténoses cicatricielles ont été traitées par une ou plusieurs dilatations avec les bougies de Savary. Des résections circonférentielles de 2,2 à 5,5 cm de longueur ont été réalisées avec succès dans 23/24 des cas. Une seule perforation, secondaire à une erreur de manipulation, est survenue directement après la mucosectomie. A l'analyse histologique, une profondeur de résection précise à travers la sousmuq Tyrp1ueuse a été obtenue dans 85% des specimens. Les sténoses cicatricielles ont été contrôlées dans 95% des cas par dilatations avec les bougies de Savary. L'oesophagoscope rigide modifié a permis de réaliser des résections muqueuses circonférentielles et étendues en une seule séance endoscopique d'une durée de moins d'une demi-heure. L'utilisation de ce résectoscope chez l'homme devrait permettre l'éradication complète de l'oesophage de Barrett avec HGIN et/ou AC précoce dans un avenir très proche.

Test-retest reliability of thermal quantitative sensory testing on two sites within the L5 dermatome of the lumbar spine and lower extremity.

INTRODUCTION: Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is widely used in human research to investigate the integrity of the sensory function in patients with pain of neuropathic origin, or other causes such as low back pain. Reliability of QST has been evaluated on both sides of the face, hands and feet as well as on the trunk (Th3-L3). In order to apply these tests on other body-parts such as the lower lumbar spine, it is important first to establish reliability on healthy individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate intra-rater reliability of thermal QST in healthy adults, on two sites within the L5 dermatome of the lumbar spine and lower extremity. METHODS: Test-retest reliability of thermal QST was determined at the L5-level of the lumbar spine and in the same dermatome on the lower extremity in 30 healthy persons under 40 years of age. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Values were compared to normative data, using Z-transformation. RESULTS: Mean intraindividual differences were small for cold and warm detection thresholds but larger for pain thresholds. ICC values showed excellent reliability for warm detection and heat pain threshold, good-to-excellent reliability for cold pain threshold and fair-to-excellent reliability for cold detection threshold. ICC had large ranges of confidence interval (95%). CONCLUSION: In healthy adults, thermal QST on the lumbar spine and lower extremity demonstrated fair-to-excellent test-retest reliability.

Animal Toxins: How is Complexity Represented in Databases?

Peptide toxins synthesized by venomous animals have been extensively studied in the last decades. To be useful to the scientific community, this knowledge has been stored, annotated and made easy to retrieve by several databases. The aim of this article is to present what type of information users can access from each database. ArachnoServer and ConoServer focus on spider toxins and cone snail toxins, respectively. UniProtKB, a generalist protein knowledgebase, has an animal toxin-dedicated annotation program that includes toxins from all venomous animals. Finally, the ATDB metadatabase compiles data and annotations from other databases and provides toxin ontology.

Bioinformatic study of selection in animal genomes

Les gènes orthologues divergent sur plusieurs aspects durant l'évolution. Après une revue de la littérature cherchant à montrer de la divergence entre les orthologues de l'humain et de la souris, j'ai souligné les différentes causes de cette divergence. En comparant les gènes qui divergent en fonction, je n'ai pas trouvé de lien avec la divergence des séquences, pour cette raison je me suis penché sur l'étude de l'expression. Notamment, j'ai étudié le niveau, la spécificité ainsi que la présence/absence d'expression des orthologues humain-souris liés aux maladies Mendéliennes. Malgré les similarités trouvées entre l'humain et la souris, j'ai détecté une différence d'expression spécifique à une des deux espèces liée a un phénotype précis (gène essentiel/non-essentiel). Cela m'a permis de conclure que la différence sur le plan phénotypique entre l'humain et la souris est mieux expliquée par les patrons d'expression plutôt que le niveau d'expression ou la sélection. J'ai été également intéressé par l'évolution des séquences d'ADN codantes pour des protéines, en particulier sur le rôle de la sélection. J'ai commencé par une étude sur la fiabilité de détection de la sélection positive en comparant des séquences divergentes. J'ai trouvé, en utilisant le model de branche-site que la sélection peut être détectée sur des séquences qui ont divergé il y a plus de 500 millions d'années. J'ai analysé le biais de GC entres les séquences sans trouver une influence sur l'estimation de la sélection positive. Finalement, Je crois que ce travail est une première étape dans l'établissement d'un lien entre la sélection et les patrons d'expression des gènes chez les vertébrés.

Animal manure phosphorus characterization by sequential chemical fractionation, release kinetics and 31P-NMR analysis

Phosphate release kinetics from manures are of global interest because sustainable plant nutrition with phosphate will be a major concern in the future. Although information on the bioavailability and chemical composition of P present in manure used as fertilizer are important to understand its dynamics in the soil, such studies are still scarce. Therefore, P extraction was evaluated in this study by sequential chemical fractionation, desorption with anion-cation exchange resin and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (31P-NMR) spectroscopy to assess the P forms in three different dry manure types (i.e. poultry, cattle and swine manure). All three methods showed that the P forms in poultry, cattle and swine dry manures are mostly inorganic and highly bioavailable. The estimated P pools showed that organic and recalcitrant P forms were negligible and highly dependent on the Ca:P ratio in manures. The results obtained here showed that the extraction of P with these three different methods allows a better understanding and complete characterization of the P pools present in the manures.

A Guide to Workforce Drug Testing in Iowa, October 13, 2010

The purpose of the State of Iowa’s drug testing law—Iowa Code Section 730.5 (& Administrative Code Section 641)—is to enhance worker safety, by creating workplaces that are free of drugs and substance abuse. One tool available to private sector employers is drug testing (inclusive of alcohol testing), that often is coupled with educational efforts as part of a comprehensive drug-free workplace program. Each employer must first decide if drug and/or alcohol testing is appropriate for them. Under Iowa law, workplace drug or alcohol testing is optional for private sector employers. Federal laws or regulations governing drug or alcohol testing supersede state law in Iowa.

Results from the Testing of Adulterated Anhydrous Ammonia Provided by the State of Iowa's Office of Drug Control Policy, March 15, 2004

The report of adulterated anhydrous ammonia did not completely prevent the manufacture of methamphetamine. The amount of the methamphetamine manufactured using the adulterated ammonia was consistently very low. Although clandestine laboratory "field-like" reaction conditions were mimicked for purposes of these tests it should be noted that no attempts were made to distill the adulterated anhydrous ammonia.

A Guide to Workplace Drug Testing in Iowa, October 13, 2010

The purpose of the State of Iowa’s drug testing law—Iowa Code Section 730.5 (& Administrative Code Section 641)—is to enhance worker safety, by creating workplaces that are free of drugs and substance abuse. One tool available to private sector employers is drug testing (inclusive of alcohol testing), that often is coupled with educational efforts as part of a comprehensive drug-free workplace program. Each employer must first decide if drug and/or alcohol testing is appropriate for them. Under Iowa law, workplace drug or alcohol testing is optional for private sector employers. Federal laws or regulations governing drug or alcohol testing supersede state law in Iowa.

Iowa Animal Industry News, 2011, Vol. 12, no. 1

Newsletter produced by Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship about the animal industry in Iowa. Previously titled Animal Industry News.

Altura de Pastejo de Braquiária e Carga Animal Limitada pelos Atributos Físicos do Solo em Sistema Integração Lavoura-Pecuária com Soja

O manejo da altura de pastejo das forrageiras pelos bovinos pode comprometer os atributos físicos do solo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência da altura de pastejo de braquiária (Urochloa ruziziensis) e a carga animal média, após três anos de sistema integração lavoura-pecuária com soja, nos atributos físicos de um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico típico. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos casualizados, com três repetições. Cinco tratamentos com 10, 20, 30 e 40 cm de altura de pastejo, após 84 dias de pastejo contínuo mantidos com carga variável de bovinos, e um tratamento testemunha sem pastejo foram avaliados em parcelas experimentais de 1 ha. Em novembro de 2012, após o terceiro período de pastejo, com carga animal média de 1.262, 919, 892 e 724 kg ha-1 de peso vivo, respectivamente, para as alturas de pastejo de 10, 20, 30 e 40 cm, coletaram-se amostras indeformadas de solo nas camadas de 0-10, 10-20 e 20-30 cm, as quais foram utilizadas para determinar as curvas de retenção de água e de resistência do solo à penetração e a densidade do solo (Ds), bem como para calcular o intervalo hídrico ótimo (IHO). A menor Ds ocorreu na camada de 0-10 cm para a altura de pastejo de 31 cm da braquiária que correspondeu a 72 % da carga animal máxima. O maior IHO ocorreu na camada de 10-20 cm para a altura de pastejo de 23 cm da braquiária que correspondeu a 83 % da carga animal máxima. O manejo da altura de pastejo da braquiária foi limitado em 23 cm pela maior carga animal e melhores atributos físicos na camada de 10-20 cm do Latossolo Vermelho distrófico típico.

Rapid cohort generation and analysis of disease spectrum of large animal model of cone dystrophy.

Large animal models are an important resource for the understanding of human disease and for evaluating the applicability of new therapies to human patients. For many diseases, such as cone dystrophy, research effort is hampered by the lack of such models. Lentiviral transgenesis is a methodology broadly applicable to animals from many different species. When conjugated to the expression of a dominant mutant protein, this technology offers an attractive approach to generate new large animal models in a heterogeneous background. We adopted this strategy to mimic the phenotype diversity encounter in humans and generate a cohort of pigs for cone dystrophy by expressing a dominant mutant allele of the guanylate cyclase 2D (GUCY2D) gene. Sixty percent of the piglets were transgenic, with mutant GUCY2D mRNA detected in the retina of all animals tested. Functional impairment of vision was observed among the transgenic pigs at 3 months of age, with a follow-up at 1 year indicating a subsequent slower progression of phenotype. Abnormal retina morphology, notably among the cone photoreceptor cell population, was observed exclusively amongst the transgenic animals. Of particular note, these transgenic animals were characterized by a range in the severity of the phenotype, reflecting the human clinical situation. We demonstrate that a transgenic approach using lentiviral vectors offers a powerful tool for large animal model development. Not only is the efficiency of transgenesis higher than conventional transgenic methodology but this technique also produces a heterogeneous cohort of transgenic animals that mimics the genetic variation encountered in human patients.

PET-measured responses of MBF to cold pressor testing correlate with indices of coronary vasomotion on quantitative coronary angiography.

The aims of this study were to determine whether responses in myocardial blood flow (MBF) to the cold pressor testing (CPT) method noninvasively with PET correlate with an established and validated index of flow-dependent coronary vasomotion on quantitative angiography. METHODS: Fifty-six patients (57 +/- 6 y; 16 with hypertension, 10 with hypercholesterolemia, 8 smokers, and 22 without coronary risk factors) with normal coronary angiograms were studied. Biplanar end-diastolic images of a selected proximal segment of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) (n = 27) or left circumflex artery (LCx) (n = 29) were evaluated with quantitative coronary angiography in order to determine the CPT-induced changes of epicardial luminal area (LA, mm(2)). Within 20 d of coronary angiography, MBF in the LAD, LCx, and right coronary artery territory was measured with (13)N-ammonia and PET at baseline and during CPT. RESULTS: CPT induced on both study days comparable percent changes in the rate x pressure product (%DeltaRPP, 37% +/- 13% and 40% +/- 17%; P = not significant [NS]). For the entire study group, the epicardial LA decreased from 5.07 +/- 1.02 to 4.88 +/- 1.04 mm(2) (DeltaLA, -0.20 +/- 0.89 mm(2)) or by -2.19% +/- 17%, while MBF in the corresponding epicardial vessel segment increased from 0.76 +/- 0.16 to 1.03 +/- 0.33 mL x min(-1) x g(-1) (DeltaMBF, 0.27 +/- 0.25 mL x min(-1) x g(-1)) or 36% +/- 31% (P <or= 0.0001). However, in normal controls without coronary risk factors (n = 22), the epicardial LA increased from 5.01 +/- 1.07 to 5.88 +/- 0.89 mm(2) (19.06% +/- 8.9%) and MBF increased from 0.77 +/- 0.16 to 1.34 +/- 0.34 mL x min(-1) x g(-1) (74.08% +/- 23.5%) during CPT, whereas patients with coronary risk factors (n = 34) revealed a decrease of epicardial LA from 5.13 +/- 1.48 to 4.24 +/- 1.12 mm(2) (-15.94% +/- 12.2%) and a diminished MBF increase (from 0.76 +/- 0.20 to 0.83 +/- 0.25 mL x min(-1) x g(-1) or 10.91% +/- 19.8%) as compared with controls (P < 0.0001, respectively), despite comparable changes in the RPP (P = NS). In addition, there was a significant correlation (r = 0.87; P <or= 0.0001) between CPT-related percent changes in LA on quantitative angiography and in MBF as measured with PET. CONCLUSION: The observed close correlation between an angiographically established parameter of flow-dependent and, most likely, endothelium-mediated coronary vasomotion and PET-measured MBF further supports the validity and value of MBF responses to CPT as a noninvasively available index of coronary circulatory function.

Task 4: Testing Iowa Portland Cement Concrete Mixtures for the AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Procedure, May 2008

The present research project was designed to identify the typical Iowa material input values that are required by the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) for the Level 3 concrete pavement design. It was also designed to investigate the existing equations that might be used to predict Iowa pavement concrete for the Level 2 pavement design. In this project, over 20,000 data were collected from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and other sources. These data, most of which were concrete compressive strength, slump, air content, and unit weight data, were synthesized and their statistical parameters (such as the mean values and standard variations) were analyzed. Based on the analyses, the typical input values of Iowa pavement concrete, such as 28-day compressive strength (f’c), splitting tensile strength (fsp), elastic modulus (Ec), and modulus of rupture (MOR), were evaluated. The study indicates that the 28-day MOR of Iowa concrete is 646 + 51 psi, very close to the MEPDG default value (650 psi). The 28-day Ec of Iowa concrete (based only on two available data of the Iowa Curling and Warping project) is 4.82 + 0.28x106 psi, which is quite different from the MEPDG default value (3.93 x106 psi); therefore, the researchers recommend re-evaluating after more Iowa test data become available. The drying shrinkage (εc) of a typical Iowa concrete (C-3WR-C20 mix) was tested at Concrete Technology Laboratory (CTL). The test results show that the ultimate shrinkage of the concrete is about 454 microstrain and the time for the concrete to reach 50% of ultimate shrinkage is at 32 days; both of these values are very close to the MEPDG default values. The comparison of the Iowa test data and the MEPDG default values, as well as the recommendations on the input values to be used in MEPDG for Iowa PCC pavement design, are summarized in Table 20 of this report. The available equations for predicting the above-mentioned concrete properties were also assembled. The validity of these equations for Iowa concrete materials was examined. Multiple-parameters nonlinear regression analyses, along with the artificial neural network (ANN) method, were employed to investigate the relationships among Iowa concrete material properties and to modify the existing equations so as to be suitable for Iowa concrete materials. However, due to lack of necessary data sets, the relationships between Iowa concrete properties were established based on the limited data from CP Tech Center’s projects and ISU classes only. The researchers suggest that the resulting relationships be used by Iowa pavement design engineers as references only. The present study furthermore indicates that appropriately documenting concrete properties, including flexural strength, elastic modulus, and information on concrete mix design, is essential for updating the typical Iowa material input values and providing rational prediction equations for concrete pavement design in the future.