MARKET STRATEGY

Agribusiness,

THE IN-STORE TRAINING CONCEPT

Looks at three approaches to in-store training of personnel.Agribusiness,

TRANSPORTATION - WORK GROUP DISCUSSION

Agribusiness,

DEVELOPING A COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION TRAINING PACKAGE

Agribusiness,

Does Micro-CT scanning damage DNA in museum specimens?

X-ray micro-computed tomography and DNA sequencing are useful and increasingly common tools in taxonomy and collections research. Whilst the benefits of each method are continually evaluated and debated individually, how the methods impact each other requires more attention. We compared DNA fragment length and the barcode sequence CO1 in samples throughout a CT-scanning protocol, for a range of X-ray exposures and energies. We found no evidence of DNA damage, but advise caution when using precious or archival material, highlighting the need for further investigations and considering potential areas for research.NatSCA supports open access publication as part of its mission is to promote and support natural science collections. NatSCA uses the Creative Commons Attribution License (CCAL) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ for all works we publish. Under CCAL authors retain ownership of the copyright for their article, but authors allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles in NatSCA publications, so long as the original authors and source are cited. The attached file is the published version of the article

THE ALL-TRAILER - A PERISHABLE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

Agribusiness,

Quality of DNA extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded canine tissues.

Veterinary pathology tissue banks are valuable resources for genetic studies. However, limited data exist as to whether quality DNA can be extracted from these tissues for use in canine genotyping studies. We extracted DNA from 44 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks from dogs; 9 of these dogs had DNA available from whole blood samples that had been banked. We genotyped DNA from 30 of 44 tissue blocks and 9 whole blood samples on the Illumina CanineHD BeadChip; DNA quality was insufficient in 14 of 44 samples from tissue blocks. There was significant correlation between the 260/280 ratio and single-nucleotide variation (SNV) call rate (p = 0.0276; r2 = 0.162); 23 of 30 samples from FFPE were genotyped with > 65% call rates. Median pairwise identical-by-state (IBS) analysis was 0.99 in 8 pairs of dogs with call rates > 65%. Neither age of tissue block nor specific tissue types were associated with significant differences in DNA concentration, 260/280 ratio, or SNV call rate. DNA extracted from tissue blocks can have variable quality, although comparable levels of homozygosity suggest that extracts from FFPE with call rates > 65% might provide similar results to samples from whole blood when analyzed on the Illumina CanineHD BeadChip

Nest Microclimate Manipulation Affects Growth, Development, And Heat-Shock Protein Production In The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia Sialis)

Climatic conditions are particularly important to breeding birds, especially as recent global change has caused a shift in the timing and length of avian breeding seasons. Nest microclimate has been shown to influence avian development and parental care, however, little work has been done to examine whether increased heat poses a cost to altricial nestlings at different stages of their development. We manipulated the temperature of eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) nest boxes to examine whether or not nestlings exhibit a heat shock response, and a difference in growth or altered parasite loads at both their early and late developmental stages. We found that heated birds were in poorer body condition over the course of the treatment and gained less mass (i.e. had a decreased growth rate) in their early development relative to control birds. Overall, heat-shock protein expression did not differ between treatments, but it was upregulated with age within heated birds, suggesting that a protective response was mounted as the birds became more developed. Feather-degrading bacterial load of thirteen-day old nestlings was highly variable and unrelated to the growth and body condition of the birds, suggesting that proliferation is influenced by ambient conditions, not individual susceptibility to parasites. Overall, our findings reveal a cost posed by excessive heat as well as a signature of tolerance, expressed when the birds are more developed and nearer to fledging. Together with other literature on cavity-nesters, this study better informs our understanding of how vertebrate animals can respond plastically to unfavorable conditions in their rearing environment and highlights the need for additional examination of behavior as a mediator of development and physiology

Mycobacterial panniculitis caused by Mycobacterium thermoresistibile in a cat.

Case summaryA domestic shorthair cat was evaluated for chronic, bilateral, ulcerative dermatitis affecting the inguinal region and lateral aspects of both pelvic limbs. Histopathologic examination of skin biopsies collected throughout the course of disease revealed chronic pyogranulomatous ulcerative dermatitis. Aerobic bacterial skin cultures yielded growth of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Corynebacterium amycolatum. Upon referral the clinical findings were suggestive of a non-tuberculous Mycobacterium species infection. Previously obtained skin cultures failed to yield growth of mycobacterial organisms. A deep skin biopsy was collected and submitted for mycobacterial culture. At 5 weeks of incubation Mycobacterium thermoresistibile was isolated. In previous reports, M thermoresistibile has been isolated after 2-4 days of incubation, suggesting that this strain may have been a slower growing variant, or other factors (such as prior antimicrobial therapy) inhibited rapid growth of this isolate. The cat was hospitalized for intravenous antibiotic therapy, surgical debridement of wounds, vacuum-assisted wound closure therapy and reconstruction procedures. The wounds were ultimately primarily closed and the cat was discharged to the owner after 50 days of hospitalization. Seven months after hospitalization, the ulcerative skin lesions had healed.Relevance and novel informationTo our knowledge, only two cases of M thermoresistibile panniculitis have been reported in cats. In the only detailed report of feline M thermoresistibile panniculitis, treatment was not attempted. The second case only reported detection of M thermoresistibile by PCR without a clinical description of the case. In our case report, severe chronic skin infection with M thermoresistibile was addressed using prolonged specific antibiotic therapy, surgical debridement and reconstructions, and treatment of secondary bacterial infections