Nasal Tumor in a Fallow Deer (Dama Dama L)

A nasal, so called ethmoidal, tumor from a fallow deer is described. It appears to be the first reported case of that species. The etiology is discussed.     

An “Inclusion-Body-Like” Configuration of Some Cell Nuclei in Moose

At routine post-mortem of a moose an inclusion-body-like configuration of the nuclei of the cells in the granule layer of the cerebellum was found. This was also observed to a lesser extent in glial cells of the cerebrum, epithelial cells of the collecting tubules of kidney and in the hepatocytes.     

Animal definition: a necessity for the validity of animal experiments?

In most scientific journals, experimental animals are described poorly. Whether this is scientifically justified is discussed in this article. It was concluded that when laboratory animals are used in scientific experiments, which almost always are of a quantitative nature, a detailed animal definition is imperative.     

Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) in Swedish sewage sludge

Background  

Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat in veterinary medicine and human healthcare. Resistance genes can spread from animals, through the food-chain, and back to humans. Sewage sludge may act as the link back from humans to animals. The main aims of this study were to investigate the occurrence of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) in treated sewage sludge, in a Swedish waste water treatment plant (WWTP), and to compare VRE isolates from sewage sludge with isolates from humans and chickens.     

An Outbreak of a Disease in Farmed Fallow Deer (Dama Dama L) Resembling Bovine Virus Diarrhea/Mucosal Disease

Farmed fallow deer suddenly developed disease showing lethargy, weakness, anorexia and several of them died. The animals showed macroscopic lesions in the digestive mucosa characterized by erosions, ulcers and necrotizing lesions. Histo-pathology of the mucous membranes revealed marked inter- and intracellular oedema, erosions, ulcers and intracyto-plasmic inclusions bodies. BVD-virus was demonstrated in 1 deer using an indirect immunofluorescence method. It is suggested that the disease may have been caused by Bovine Virus Diarrhea virus alone or in conjunction with a simultaneous infection by another unidentified virus.     

Spontaneous Aortic Lesions in Fallow Deer (Dama Dama L)

In 19 out of 22 aortas from fallow deer, 15 months to 5½ years, aortic lesions were found. Three types of lesions were observed, fatty streaks were seen in 2, fibrous plaques in 15 and fibrous plaques with complicated lesions (calcification and acid mucopolysaccharides) in 2 of the aortas. Elastic tissue degeneration of the inner two thirds of the tunica media was frequently found in the aorta of the animals > 3½–5½ years of age. There was no statistical evidence for a correlation between age and frequency (P ~ 0.10) but a trend towards age dependence was seen. The percentage of involved surface was found to significantly increase (0.05 > P > 0.01) with age. Lesions were found to start in the abdominal aorta in young animals and to extend cranially to the thoracic aorta with age. The percentage of involved surface in different affected regions, comprising all age groups were, in the posterior abdominal portion, 10.5 %, in the anterior abdominal portion, 4.3 % and in the posterior thoracic portion, 1.04 %. The influence of hemodynamic flow upon the localization of the aortic lesions, the endothelial cell population density and the endothelial nuclear patterns were discussed.     

Ultrastructural Studies on Bovine Horn Cancer

The ultrastructure of bovine horn cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) of Indian cattle is described. The tumour was composed of pleomorphic epithelial cells. The nuclei were enlarged with membrane invaginations and peripherally distributed heterochromatin and pleomorphic nucleoli. The cytoplasm contained bundles of tono-filaments and keratohyalin granules. In addition a majority of the cells revealed marked degenerative changes of the cytoplasmic orga-nellae and intracellular oedema. Desmosomes were rarely observed. Budding of virus-like particles from the cell membrane of a few cells was demonstrated.     

Spontaneous Aortic Lesions in Roe Deer (Capreolus Capreolus L)

In 34 out of 60 aortas from roe deer, aged from 6 months to more than 8 years, aortic lesions were found. The frequency of affected regions involved were, in the posterior abdominal portion 53.3 %, in the aortic arch 18.3 %, in the anterior abdominal portion 16.7 %, in the posterior thoracic portion 8.33 % and in the anterior thoracic portion 3.3 %. Of the observed lesions, fatty streaks were seen in 3, fatty streaks and fibrous plaques in 3, fatty streaks with complicated lesions (calcification and acid mucopolysaccharides) in 14 and fibrous plaques with complicated lesions in 14 of the aortas. Elastic tissue degeneration of the inner two thirds of the tunica media was principally found in the aorta of the animals beyond 4 years of age. The lesions significantly (P < 0.001) increased in number and severity with age and appeared to be more progressive in pregnant animals. There was, however, no significant difference between affected male and female animals in the different age groups.     

A control theoretic model of the forearm

In this paper, a control theoretic model of the forearm is developed and analyzed, and a computational method for predicting muscle activations necessary to generate specified motions is described. A detailed geometric model of the forearm kinematics, including the carrying angle and models of how the biceps and the supinator tendons wrap around the bones, is used. Also, including a dynamics model, the final model is a system of differential equations where the muscle activations play the role of control signals. Due to the large number of muscles, the problem of finding muscle activations is redundant, and this problem is solved by an optimization procedure. The computed muscle activations for ballistic movements clearly recaptures the triphasic ABC (Activation-Braking-Clamping) pattern. It is also transparent, from the muscle activation patterns, how the muscles cooperate and counteract in order to accomplish desired motions. A comparison with previously reported experimental data is included and the model predictions can be seen to be partially in agreement with the experimental data.