Detection of Deefgea chitinilytica in freshwater ornamental fish

Aim: To identify and characterize six chitinolytic bacterial strains isolated from ornamental fish. Methods and Results: Six different isolates of Deefgea chitinilytica were detected in healthy as well as diseased ornamental fish in Germany over a period of 2 years. Bacterial strains were identified using 16S rRNA partial gene sequencing and further characterized using different biochemical microtest systems and additional standard biochemical tests. Conclusion: We show that commercially available biochemical microtest systems are useful for identification of D. chitinilytica, supplemented by 16S rRNA partial gene sequencing. Furthermore, this study provides new information about the occurrence of D. chitinilytica, as this is the first isolation of D. chitinilytica from animals and first described isolation in Europe. Significance and Impact of the Study: Deefgea chitinilytica may be isolated regularly in fish diagnostic laboratories. Therefore, accurate identification of this bacterial species is important. Involvement of D. chitinilytica in opportunistic infections of aquatic organisms cannot be excluded and has to be further investigated.     

Juvenile animal studies for the development of paediatric medicines: a description and conclusions from a European medicines agency workshop on juvenile animal testing for nonclinical assessors

A workshop organised by the European Medicines Agency involved assessors and experts present in a Nonclinical Working Group evaluating juvenile animal studies for Paediatric Investigation Plans in collaboration with the Paediatric Committee and the Safety Working Party of the Committee for Human Medicinal Products. The objective of the workshop was to analyse which juvenile animal studies proposals were received and agreed by the Paediatric Committee, to check consistency and how to apply the existing European guideline on juvenile animal studies. A comparison of main organ system development in man vs. animal species was presented to guide the review and to support species selection and protocol design. An analysis of juvenile animal studies included in finalised PIP's was also presented. Out of 109 paediatric investigation plans finalised between November 2008 and March 2009, 43 included one or more juvenile animal studies. In most cases the preferred species was the rat; one species only was requested to be studied (20/22), but in a minority two species were required (2/22). When deciding on the characteristics of the juvenile animal studies, such as age of animals at study start, the age of the children targeted by the medicine was considered. It is expected that the increasing experience gained by Applicants and Regulators will allow further refining the criteria for these juvenile animal studies. Further research on this topic is highly encouraged in the European Regulatory framework. Birth Defects Res (Part B) 89:467–473, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Probiotic roles of Lactobacillus sp. in swine: insights from gut microbiota

The use of lactobacilli as probiotics in swine has been gaining attention due to their ability to improve growth performance and carcass quality, prevent gastrointestinal infection and most importantly, their ‘generally recognized as safe’ status. Previous studies support the potential of lactobacilli to regulate host immune systems, enhance gut metabolic capacities and maintain balance in the gut microbiota. Research on swine gut microbiota has revealed complex gut microbial community structure and showed the importance of Lactobacillus to the host's health. However, the species‐ and strain‐specific characteristics of lactobacilli that confer probiotic benefits are still not well understood. The diversity of probiotic traits in a complex gut ecosystem makes it challenging to infer the relationships between specific functions of Lactobacillus sp. and host health. In this review, we provide an overview of how lactobacilli play a pivotal role in the swine gut ecosystem and identify key characteristics that influence gut microbial community structure and the health of pigs. In addition, based on recent and ongoing meta‐omics and omics research on the gut microbiota of pigs, we suggest a workflow combining culture‐dependent and culture‐independent approaches for more effective selection of probiotic lactobacilli.     

中国神农架民间草药的特点与代表种类

简要介绍了神农架民间草药的特点及其代表种类,并对其中四种名称均带有一字、三十六种冠以还阳二字以及七十二种名称中以七字结尾组成的几类最具特色的中草药的来源和疗效进行了阐述。     

Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? Investigating the Association between Demographic Characteristics and Beliefs about Animal Afterlife

The purpose of this research was to explore American’s beliefs about animal afterlife based on key demographic factors such as sex, race/ethnicity, age, geographic region, religion/faith, and pet ownership. We attained a large and diverse sample of respondents (n = 800) using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, and attempted to make the data fairly representative of the United States population by applying post-stratification weights based on auxiliary statistics obtained from US Census data. Results of the study suggest that many people perceive animal lives as similarly sacred as human lives. Evidence also suggests that one’s membership in a particular demographic category may have considerable bearing on views about animal afterlife. The authors recommend veterinarians remain cognizant that some people extend their own views on issues such as spirituality to their pets and those beliefs and values can impact veterinary care and decision-making.     

国内外高校动物福利教育发展历史与前景展望

自20世纪80年代动物福利作为一个严谨的科学分支被人们接受以来,动物福利学科得到了迅猛发展,相关概念在科学研究结果的支持下被更精确地定义,评价动物所处福利水平的体系也逐步被建立起来.伴随着动物福利科学的发展,动物福利教育也逐步被纳入高等教育的课程体系.综述了国内外高等院校特别是高校的动物医学学院近30年间的动物福利教育进程,并以英国、美国、澳大利亚等国的动物福利教育为例说明国际动物福利教育的发展现状与趋势,结合中国现状,思考中国与国际动物福利教育之间存在的差异.随着动物福利相关科学、伦理学以及法学研究的深入,社会对动物福利的关注将会日益加深,相信至少对准动物医生普及动物福利教育必将成为发展的趋势.     

Whole blood transfusion in common marmosets: a clinical evaluation

In veterinary medicine, blood transfusion is commonly performed on companion animals. The common marmoset is a small nonhuman primate with increasing popularity as an animal model in biomedical research. Because of its small whole blood volume, the marmoset is at high risk of exsanguination, and blood transfusion is required to care for life-threatening bleeding. However, few clinical evaluations exist on transfusions for marmosets. This study performed whole blood transfusion with cross-matching on nine marmosets and surveyed the therapeutic effects. Recipients included clinical cases with persistent bleeding, anemia, and coma, as well as animals subjected to postoperative bleeding prophylaxis. Donors were selected from healthy marmosets, including littermates. Cross-match assay before transfusion were all negative, and recipients showed no visible signs of transfusion-related adverse reactions. Whole blood transfusions caused hemostasis and successful recovery in bleeding marmosets, including long-term improvement of anemia cases. Our results indicated that blood transfusion is effective for marmosets with severe anemia and persistent hemorrhage from both non-experimental and surgical causes. Furthermore, DNA sequencing for blood-group classification revealed that all subject marmosets were type A, suggesting that the risk of blood type mismatch may be low in this species.