Herd-level risk factors for Campylobacter fetus infection, Brucella seropositivity and within-herd seroprevalence of brucellosis in cattle in northern Nigeria.

Brucellosis and campylobacteriosis are economically important diseases affecting bovine reproductive efficiency in Nigeria. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in 271 cattle herds in Adamawa, Kaduna and Kano states of northern Nigeria using multistage cluster sampling. Serum from 4745 mature animals was tested for Brucella antibodies using the Rose-Bengal plate test and positives were confirmed in series-testing protocol using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Preputial scrapings from 602 bulls were tested using culture and identification for Campylobacter fetus. For each disease, a herd was classified as positive if one or more animals tested positive. For each herd, information on potential managemental and environmental risk factors was collected through a questionnaire administered during an interview with the manager, owner or herdsman. Multiple logistic regression models were used to model the odds of herd infection for each disease. A zero-inflated Poisson model was used to model the count of Brucella-positive animals within herds, with the number tested as an exposure variable. The presence of small ruminants (sheep and/or goats) on the same farm, and buying-in of >3 new animals in the previous year or failure to practice quarantine were associated with increased odds of herd-level campylobacteriosis and brucellosis, as well as increased within-herd counts of Brucella-positive animals. In addition, high rainfall, initial acquisition of animals from markets, practice of gynaecological examination and failure to practice herd prophylactic measures were positively associated with the odds of C. fetus infection in the herd. Herd size of >15, pastoral management system and presence of handling facility on the farm were associated with increased odds, and gynaecological examination with reduced odds of herd-level Brucella seropositivity. Furthermore, the zero-inflated Poisson model showed that borrowing or sharing of bulls was associated with higher counts, and provision of mineral supplement with lower counts of Brucella-positive cattle within herds. Identification of risk factors for bovine campylobacteriosis and brucellosis can help to identify appropriate control measures, and the use of zero-inflated count model can provide more specific information on these risk factors.

Intralesional injection of pingyangmycin is a safe and effective treatment for microcystic lymphatic malformations in the tongue.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intralesional injection of pingyangmycin for the treatment of microcystic lymphatic malformations (LMs) in the tongue. METHODS: Eighteen patients with tongue microcystic LMs were treated with intralesional injection of pingyangmycin. The concentration of the drug was 1 mg/mL with an addition of dexamethasone. Repeated injections were performed at an interval of 3­4 weeks. The results were evaluated by clinical examinations and Doppler ultrasonography scan. The follow-up period was 12 months to eight years after the last treatment and the mean follow-up time was three years. All patients received 1­8 injections (mean, 3.0 injections) for the whole course of treatment. The total dose of pingyangmycin administered was 8­64 mg (mean, 24 mg). RESULTS: Fifteen patients had complete response with no cosmetic or functional problems.Three patients with macroglossia had a reduction of 50­90% in the lesion size and needed secondary surgery. No serious complications were encountered. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that intralesional injection of pingyangmycin is an effective and safe treatment for microcystic LMs in the tongue, and can be used as the first-line treatment protocol.

Spatio-temporal analysis of feature-based attention.

The cortical mechanisms of feature-selective attention to color and motion cues were studied in humans using combined electrophysiological, magnetoencephalographic, and hemodynamic (functional magnetic resonance imaging) measures of brain activity. Subjects viewed a display of random dots that periodically either changed color or moved coherently. When attention was directed to the color change it elicited enhanced neural activity in visual area V4v, previously shown to be specialized for processing color information. In contrast, when dot movement was attended it produced enhanced activity in the motion-specialized area human MT. Parallel recordings of event-related electrophysiological and magnetoencephalographic responses indicated that the attention-related facilitation of neural activity in these specialized cortical areas occurred rapidly, beginning as early as 90-120 ms after stimulus onset. We conclude that selection of an entire feature dimension (motion or color) boosts neural activity in its specialized cortical module much more rapidly than does selection of one feature value from another (e.g., one color from another), as reported in previous electrophysiological studies. By combining methods with high spatial and temporal resolution it is possible to analyze the precise time course of feature-selective processing in specialized cortical areas.

Detection of oestrus in Bunaji cows under field conditions.

The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of some aids for detecting oestrus in 72 Bunaji cows synchronized using two injections of prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) 13 days apart. Blood samples to determine the accuracy of the aids and ovarian activity by radioimmunoassay technique were collected daily from the day of the second PGF2 alpha injection until oestrus or for 168 hours for 'non-responders'. The aids for detecting oestrus, tail painting, KaMar detectors and a chin-ball mating device (CMD) were applied at the time of the second injection. The oestrus response rate was 73.6% and 61.1%, from the serum progesterone concentration and visual observation, respectively. Based on the total number of oestrus events observed, unaided visual observation, tail painting, KaMar and CMD detected 52.2%, 82.6%, 82.6% and 76.8%, respectively. Visual observation of standing oestrus alone failed to detect 47.8% of the occurrence of oestrus as shown by the concentration of progesterone in the serum and 30.4%, 30.4% and 24.6%, respectively, of the oestrus periods recorded by tail painting, KaMar and CMD. Twenty-eight cows showed abnormalities in progesterone concentration. These investigations showed that oestrus may be detected by using the aids in cows that have been regarded as 'anoestrous' by visual observation of standing heat.