Determining the heritable component of dairy cattle foot lesions.

Lameness and hoof health affect dairy cows as an animal welfare issue, in decreased milk production, and in premature culling. Selection schemes for dairy cattle focus on sire contribution to milk production, with little consideration of the cow's physical structure or disease probability. On 3 commercial California dairies, 6 phenotypic binary hoof traits that contribute to lameness were recorded: white line disease, sole ulcer, other claw horn lesions, foot rot (interdigital phlegmon), foot warts (digital dermatitis), and other lesions. Monthly lactation records were collected from December 2006 to April 2009 with weekly observations of hoof lesions for lame and dry cows. In addition to hoof lesion information, data on cows (n=5,043) included parentage, birth date, freshening date, lactation number, and date of lameness diagnosis. The prevalence of hoof lesions ranged from a low of 2.2% (foot rot) to a high of 17.1% (foot warts). The farm environment increased the odds ratio depending upon the lesion. Lameness was more common in early lactation and as lactation number increased. Using a threshold model, heritabilities and repeatabilities were estimated for each binary trait. The heritability for risk varied by lesion, with the higher estimates being 0.40 (95% confidence interval: 0.20-0.67) for digital dermatitis and 0.30 (95% confidence interval: 0.08-0.63) for sole ulcer. Including terms to account for cow productivity on either a 305-d mature-equivalent basis or a per-lactation basis had minimal effect on the heritability estimates, suggesting that selection for hoof health is not correlated with response to selection for greater milk production and that improvement could be made for both traits. The genetic component lends support for further genetic studies to identify loci contributing to some of the lesion phenotypes such as foot warts or sole ulcers, 2 of the top 3 causes of lameness in dairy cattle.

Distribution of Culicoides sonorensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota: clarifying the epidemiology of bluetongue disease in the northern Great Plains region of the United States.

The presence or absence of the biting midge Culicoides sonorensis Wirth & Jones (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), a primary vector of bluetongue viruses (genus Orbivirus, family Reoviridae, BTV) in North America, was assessed on ranches and farms across the Northern Great Plains region of the United States, specifically Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota, as part of a 2-yr regional study of BTV exposure among cattle. Blacklight/suction trap samples totaling 280 2-night intervals were taken at 140 aquatic sites (potential larval habitat for C. sonorensis) on 82 livestock operations (ranches and farms) that span a south-to-north gradient of expected decreasing risk for exposure to BTV. In Nebraska, C. sonorensis populations were common and widespread, present at 15 of 18 operations. Of 32 operations sampled in South Dakota, seven of which were sampled in successive years, 18 were positive for C. sonorensis; 13 of 14 operations located west of the Missouri River were positive, whereas 13 of 18 operations east of the river were negative. Of 32 operations sampled in North Dakota, seven of which were sampled both years, 12 were positive for C. sonorensis. Six of eight operations located west and south of the Missouri River in North Dakota were positive, whereas 18 of 24 operations east and north of the river were negative for C. sonorensis. These data illustrate a well-defined pattern of C. sonorensis spatial distribution, with populations consistently present across Nebraska, western South Dakota, and western North Dakota; western South Dakota, and North Dakota encompass the Northwestern Plains Ecoregion where soils are nonglaciated and evaporation exceeds precipitation. In contrast, C. sonorensis populations were largely absent east of the Missouri River in South Dakota and North Dakota; this area comprises the Northwestern Glaciated Plains Ecoregion and Northern Glaciated Plains Ecoregion where surface soils reflect Wisconsinan glaciation and precipitation exceeds evaporation. In defining a well-demarcated pattern of population presence or absence on a regional scale, the data suggest that biogeographic factors regulate the distribution of C. sonorensis and in turn BTV exposure. These factors, ostensibly climate and soil type as they affect the suitability of larval habitat, may explain the absence of C. sonorensis, hence limited risk for exposure to BTV, across the eastern Northern Plains, upper Midwest, and possibly Northeast, regions of the United States.

Effects of cold ischemia time on the graft after orthotopic liver transplantation. A bile cytological study.

We conducted a daily analysis of bile cellularity in 16 orthotopic liver transplant patients fitted with a T-tube, and correlated the cytological parameters (number of cells per slide, and percentage of difference cell types) with the duration of cold ischemia time (CIT). Two groups were established: one comprised patients whose CIT was less than 7 hr (CIT averaged 345 min) and the other comprised patients with a CIT of more than 7 hr (CIT averaged 505 min). The control group consisted of 15 patients who had received cholecystectomy for biliary lithiasis and were fitted with a T-tube. All 3 groups showed the highest cell density on the 1st postoperative day (control: 53.3 +/- 15.5 cells/slide; short ischemia: 70 +/0 21.4 cells/slide; long ischemia: 158.8 +/- 53.2 cells/slide), which steadily ischemia group showed a higher cell density than did the control group for the first 2 days, although this was not significant. The long ischemia group showed the highest cell density, although only significantly for the first 2 days when compared with the controls, and basically at the expense of a increase in ductal epithelial cells. Our results show that prolonged cold ischemia causes an increase in bile cell density at the expense of ductal epithelial cells: the longer the preservation time, the greater the increase.

Localization procedures in patients with persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of noninvasive and invasive localization studies in patients with persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism (HPT). DESIGN AND SETTING: Reoperations based on patients who were treated surgically for recurrent or persistent HPT at the University of California-San Francisco Hospitals from 1982 to 1993. PATIENTS: This study evaluated 174 localization studies performed in 152 patients before reoperation (110 women and 42 men). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The accuracy of localization studies, including ultrasonography, thallous chloride T1 201-technetium Tc 99m pertechnetate scanning, technetium Tc 99m sestamibi scanning, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and selective venous catheterization, were evaluated, as were the results of parathyroid reoperations. RESULTS: A total of 174 consecutive reoperations were performed in 152 patients with HPT (persistent, 113; recurrent, 39; mean age, 54 years; range, 21 to 88 years). One hundred thirty-three patients had primary HPT, 15 had secondary HPT, and four had tertiary HPT. Overall, 141 (93%) became normocalcemic, two (1%) became hypocalcemic, and nine (6%) remained hypercalcemic. Abnormal parathyroid glands at reoperation were situated in a normal location in 77 cases (44%), in the mediastinum in 37 cases (22%), in a deep cervical location in 34 cases (19%), or in an intrathyroidal location in 14 cases (8%), or were undescended in four cases (2%); supernumerary glands were found in 26 cases (15%). Some patients had more than one remaining abnormal gland. Selective venous catheterization with a parathyroid hormone assay was done in cases in which the results of noninvasive localization studies were equivocal or negative, and it frequently converted an equivocal result of a localization study to a definitely positive result. There were no complications from the localization studies. At reoperation, permanent hypoparathyroidism that required parathyroid autotransplantation of cryopreserved tissue developed in two patients and two patients had recurrent laryngeal nerve palsies. CONCLUSION: We currently recommend using ultrasonography and technetium Tc99m sestamibi scanning and magnetic resonance imaging for patients with recurrent or persistent HPT. Selective venous catheterization with a parathyroid hormone assay is done selectively. Localization tests decrease morbidity and improve overall results in these patients.

The nucleotide sequence of the coat protein genes and 3' non-coding regions of two resistance-breaking tobamoviruses in pepper shows that they are different viruses.

The nucleotide sequence of the coat protein genes and 3' non-coding regions of two different resistance-breaking tobamoviruses in pepper have been determined. The deduced coat protein of an Italian isolate of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV-I) consists of 156 amino acids and its 3' non-coding region is 198 nucleotides long. They have been found to be very similar in sequence and structure to those previously reported for a Spanish isolate (PMMV-S). In contrast, a Dutch isolate termed P 11 codes for a coat protein of 160 amino acids and its 3' non-coding region is 291 nucleotides long, which may have arisen by duplication. The nucleotide and the predicted coat protein amino acid sequence analysis show that this isolate should be considered as a new virus within the tobamovirus group. The term paprika mild mottle virus (PaMMV) is proposed.