267 research outputs found
Biological variation of canine B12 and folic acid
De tvÄ B-vitaminerna B12 och folsyra anvÀnds i dagslÀget frÀmst för att utreda mag- och tarmstörningar hos hund, dÄ rubbningar i nivÄerna av dessa vitaminer Àr mycket specifika för störningar i vissa delar av mag- och tarmkanalen.
Det vanligaste sÀttet att analysera B12 och folsyra Àr att mÀta totala nivÄer med automatiserade instrument i serum/plasma och att jÀmföra provsvaren med ett referensintervall baserat pÄ en grupp friska hundar, s.k. populationsbaserat referensintervall, som faststÀllts av det laboratorium dÀr analysen utförs.
Ett annat sÀtt att ta reda pÄ om en förÀndring Àr kliniskt signifikant Àr att anvÀnda sig av den biologiska variationen. Det Àr den förÀndring som ses, utöver fysiologiska och analytiska faktorer, och som varierar kring kroppens naturliga instÀllningspunkt, d.v.s. det vÀrde som kroppen försöker upprÀtthÄlla.
Den biologiska variationen av B12 och folsyra fanns inte rapporterad hos hund. Syftet med denna studie var att faststÀlla den biologiska variationen av B12 och folsyra i blodprov frÄn hund för att kunna ge rÄd till veterinÀrer om hur provsvar frÄn sjuka hundar bÀst skall utvÀrderas samt ge objektiva kvalitetsmÄl till laboratorier som analyserar B12 och folsyra.
Studien utformades sÄ att Ätta friska hundar av olika ras, Älder och kön provtogs genom blodprovstagning var femte-sjunde dag under totalt sju tillfÀllen per hund. Inför varje provtagning hade hundarna fastat minst 12h och en standardiserad klinisk undersökning gjordes. Alla serumproverna analyserades i slumpmÀssig ordning, i duplikat med Immulite 2000 vid ett och samma tillfÀlle.
UtifrÄn provresultaten faststÀlldes bland annat variationskoefficient inom (CVI) och mellan (CVG) individer, index pÄ analytens individualitet (II) samt reference change value (RCV) för tolkning av kliniskt signifikanta förÀndringar vid upprepade provtagningar.
BÄde B12 och folsyra hade en tydlig individualitet, vilket talar för att det populationsbaserade referensintervallet (som anvÀnds för att upptÀcka sjukdom) inte Àr optimalt för dessa analyter. IstÀllet bör om möjligt RCV anvÀndas, dÀr tvÄ pÄ varandra tagna prover jÀmförs för att hitta en kliniskt signifikant förÀndring.Vitamin B12 and folic acid are currently used primarily to investigate gastric and intestinal disorders in dogs, as disturbances in the levels of these vitamins are very specific for disorders of certain parts of the gastrointestinal tract.
The most common way to analyze B12 and folic acid is to measure total serum or plasma levels with automated analyzers and compare the test results with a reference interval based on a group of healthy dogs, also known as population-based reference interval, determined by the laboratory in which the analysis is performed.
Another way to find out if a change is clinically significant, is to use the biological variation. It is the variation of an analyte that is seen, in addition to physiological and analytical factors, and that varies around the body's natural setting point, i.e. the value the body is trying to maintain.
The biological variation of B12 and folic acid has not been reported in dogs. The purpose of this study was to determine the biological variation of B12 and folic acid in dog serum in order to advise veterinarians how to best evaluate patient data and to provide objective quality goals to laboratories that analyze B12 and folic acid.
In the present study eight healthy dogs of different breeds, ages and genders had blood sampled weekly for a total of seven occasions per dog. Preparatory to each sampling, the dogs had fasted for at least 12 hours and a clinically standardized examination was performed. Serum was analyzed using Immulite 2000, in randomized order at the same occasion.
Based on the test results, the coefficient of variation within (CVI) and between (CVG) individuals, index of the analyte's individuality (II) and reference change value (RCV, which is used to interpret clinically significant changes in repeated sampling) were determined.
Both B12 and folic acid had a distinct individuality, which indicates that the population-based reference interval is not optimal for these analytes. Instead, RCV should be used when possible, whereby two consecutive samples are compared to find a clinically significant change
The impact of lynx and wolf on roe deer hunting benefits in Sweden
Large carnivores provide ecosystem and cultural benefts but also impose costs on hunters due to the competition for game. The aim of this paper was to identify the marginal impact of lynx (Lynx lynx) and wolf (Canis lupus) on the harvest of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Sweden and the value of this impact. We applied a production function approach, using a bioeconomic model where the annual number of roe deer harvested was assumed to be determined by hunting efort, abundance of predators, availability of other game, and winter severity. The impact of the predators on the roe deer harvests was estimated econometrically, and carnivore marginal impacts were derived. The results showed that if the roe deer resource was harvested under open access, the marginal cost in terms of hunting values foregone varied between diferent counties, and ranged between 18,000 and 58,000 EUR for an additional lynx family, and 79,000 and 336,000 EUR for an additional wolf individual. Larger marginal costs of the wolf, in terms of the impact on roe deer hunting, were found in counties where the hunting efort was high and the abundance of moose (Alces alces) was low. If instead, hunters could exert private property rights to the resource, the average marginal cost was about 20% lower than it would have been if there was open access, and the diference in wolf impact between counties with high and low moose density was smaller. Together, results suggest that the current plan for expanding the wolf population in south Sweden can be associated with a substantial cost
Polydactyly in horses - what do we know about the genetic background?
Polydaktyli Àr en medfödd missbildning dÀr en individ fÄr en eller flera falanger mer Àn vad som Àr normalt hos arten. Defekten uppkommer under den embryonala utvecklingen och Àr sporadiskt förekommande hos hÀst. Hos mÀnniska tillhör den dÀremot en av de vanligaste hand- och fot- relaterade missbildningarna. Idag Àr kunskapen begrÀnsad rörande den genetiska bakgrunden till polydaktyli hos hÀst. Forskningen om de genetiska faktorer som orsakar polydaktyli hos andra djurslag som t.ex. mus samt mÀnniska har kommit betydligt lÀngre och flera mutationer i gener som styr utveckling av falanger och som Àr associerade till olika former av polydaktyli har identifierats. Bland nÄgra fall som dokumenterats pÄ hÀst har enbart extra falanger konstaterats och dÀrefter behandlats genom amputation utan vidare undersökning. DÄ missbildningen ofta Àr associerad med andra sjukdomar hos andra djurslag, exempelvis mÀnniska och mus, bör andra sjukdomar först uteslutas vilket Àven gÀller hos hÀst. För framtida forskning behövs en mer noggrann fenotypisk dokumentation och klinisk undersökning av individer med polydaktyli samt insamling av prover frÄn drabbade individer sÄ att genetiska studier kan utföras. Med hjÀlp av modern metodik sÄ som Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) och Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) kan liknande framsteg förvÀntas Àven hos hÀst.Polydactyly is a congenital anomaly where one or more digits than usual are present. The defect occurs during the embryonic development in vertebrates with sporadic occurance in horses. In humans the anomaly is one of the most common hand and foot related genetic defects. Among some of the few documented cases of polydactyly in horses the defect is first diagnosed and then treated with amputation with no further examination of the animal. Since the anomaly often is associated with other diseases in other species, for example humans and mice, this should also be taken into consideration in research aimed to uncover the genetic factors underlying polydactyly in horses. For future research the phenotypic documentation needs to be more accurate and the examinations of polydactylous horses more thorough as well as collection of biological samples for use in genetic studies. Mutations, candidate genes and QTLs associated with different forms of polydactyly have been found in other species. With modern methods such as Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) similar progress can also be expected in horses
Panosteit hos hund
Panosteit Àr en sjukdom som förekommer över stora delar av vÀrlden och karakteriseras av intramembranös benbildning i det medullÀra benet. Sjukdomen drabbar frÀmst vÀxande hundar
av stora raser. SchÀfrar anses vara predisponerade för sjukdomen och hanhundar drabbas i större utstrÀckning Àn tikar. De lÄnga rörbenens diafyser drabbas oftast och utvecklingen innefattar vaskulÀrt lÀckage frÄn medullÀra blodkÀrl, degeneration av medullÀra adipocyter, osseös
stromalcellsproliferation samt ökad benremodellering vilket sammantaget leder till endostal intramembranös benbildning. Ny benbildning ses ibland Àven i periostet. Radiologiskt ses
frÀmst en minskad kontrast mellan det kortikala benet och den medullÀra kanalen, samt ett grövre trabekulÀrt mönster. Histologiskt ses en ökad osteoblastisk och fibroblastisk aktivitet med osteoid produktion i endostet och ibland Àven i periostet. I benmÀrgen ses Àven fibros.
Sjukdomen ger upphov till en plötsligt insÀttande hÀlta utan föregÄende trauma. HÀltan kan förflytta sig mellan benen. Symptom pÄ systemisk sjukdom kan ocksÄ ses, sÄsom feber och
inappetens. Diagnos stÀlls ofta genom en sammanvÀgning av klinisk undersökning och radiologiska fynd. Det finns ingen specifik behandling för sjukdomen. InsÀttande av
antiinflammatorisk eller smÀrtlindrande behandling kan ibland anses nödvÀndigt. Prognosen Àr mycket god och komplikationer till sjukdomen Àr sÀllsynta.
Under de senaste 65 Ären har sjukdomen haft mÄnga benÀmningar, dÀr panosteit och enostosis Àr de mest erkÀnda namnen pÄ sjukdomen. Nomenklaturen diskuteras dock fortfarande, dÄ de flesta anser att sjukdomen saknar inflammatoriskt ursprung. Etiologin för panosteit Àr okÀnd,
men mÄnga möjliga etiologier diskuteras. Mycket tyder pÄ att sjukdomen Àr multifaktoriell. Evidens finns för korrelation mellan felaktig utfodring och utveckling av panosteit. Studierna pekar pÄ att avvikelser i fodrets sammansÀttning, sÄsom högt energiinnehÄll, obalans mellan kalcium och fosfor samt överskott av vitamin D3 kan ge upphov till panosteit. Fodrets sammansÀttning i kombination med hormonell pÄverkan av tillvÀxthormoner anses kunna bidra till sjukdomsutveckling. Samspelet mellan fodrets sammansÀttning, hormoner och sjukdomens utveckling Àr komplext och det Àr i dagslÀget svÄrt att sÀkert veta hur alla mekanismer
samverkar.
En genetisk bakgrund till panosteit har ocksÄ diskuterats, dÄ sjukdomen Àr vanligare förekommande hos vissa hundraser samt ses drabba avkommor frÄn tidigare insjuknade
förÀldradjur.
Sjukdomens upptÀckt i mitten av 1950-talet sammanföll med ett nytt vaccin mot valpsjuka, baserat pÄ levande försvagat virus. En koppling mellan valpsjuka och panosteit kan finnas, dÄ valpsjukevirus har visats kunna pÄverka benremodelleringen samt att utveckling av akut valpsjuka kan förekomma hos vaccinerade hundar i sÀllsynta fall. De kausala sambanden dÀremellan Àr dock inte klarlagda. Forskning inom omrÄdet saknas till stor del, troligen pÄ grund av sjukdomens sjÀlvlÀkande natur. Fler studier behöver genomföras för att kunna faststÀlla möjliga etiologier för panosteit.Panosteitis is reported worldwide, primarily affecting growing dogs of large breeds and is characterized by intramembranous ossification in medullary bones. German Shepherds are predisposed and males are more commonly affected than females. The diaphysis of the long bones is most commonly affected and development of the disease includes vascular leakage from medullary blood vessels, degeneration of the medullary adipocytes, osseous proliferation and increased bone remodeling leading to endosteal intramembranous ossification. New bone
formation is sometimes also seen in the periosteum. Radiographic examination mainly presents a reduced contrast between the cortical bone and the medullary canal and a coarse trabecular pattern. Histopathological findings are characterized by increased osteoblastic and fibroblastic
activity with osteoid production of the endosteum and sometimes also of the periosteum. Fibrosis may occur in the bone marrow.
Panosteitis causes an acute onset of shifting lameness without any history of trauma. Symptoms of systemic disease, such as fever and inappetence, can also be seen. Diagnosis is often based on a combination of clinical and radiological findings. There is no specific treatment for the disease. Treatment with anti-inflammatory or pain relief drugs is sometimes considered necessary. The prognosis for panosteitis is excellent and complications are rare.
Over the past 65 years, the disease has been given several different terms. Panosteitis or
enostosis are the most common names used for the disease today. The nomenclature is still being discussed, since most researchers believe that the disease has no inflammatory origin. The etiology of panosteitis is unknown, but many possible etiologies are discussed. The disease seems to be multifactorial. Evidence suggests a correlation between improper feeding and development of panosteitis. The studies indicate that imbalance in the composition of feed, such
as high energy content, the imbalance between calcium and phosphorus and excess of vitamin D3 may cause panosteitis. The feed composition in combination with a hormonal influence from growth hormones may contribute to disease development. The interplay between the feed composition, hormones and disease development is complex and it is today not known in detail how these factors are related.
A genetic background to panosteitis has also been discussed, since the disease is more common in certain dog breeds, and seems to affect offspring from parental animals previously diagnosed with panosteitis.
The disease, discovered in the mid-1950s, coincided with a new vaccine against canine distemper virus (CDV), based on a live attenuated virus. A link between CDV and panosteitis
is possible since CDV has been shown to affect bone remodeling and the development of canine distemper with acute illness may occasionally be present in vaccinated dogs. The causal relationships between CDV and panosteitis are not clear. Research on the etiology of panosteitis
is lacking, probably because of the self-healing nature of the disease. More studies are needed to clarify possible etiologies fo
The guinea pig as a patient : veterinary nursing and proactive behavioral training
Intresset för och Àgandet av exotiska sÀllskapsdjur ökar varje Är och dÀrmed ökar Àven be-hovet av djursjukvÄrd anpassad till dessa djurslag. Trots detta berörs exotiska sÀllskapsdjur vÀldigt lite i Sveriges djursjukskötarutbildning. Marsvinet Àr den nÀst populÀraste arten inom kategorin exotiska sÀllskapsdjur och denna blir gÀrna sammanslagen med andra arter av gna-gare i litteratur och studier. Bristande inlÀrning under utbildningen, tillsammans med det faktum att detta Àr ett populÀrt sÀllskapsdjur, gav idén att göra en sammanstÀllning av nÄgra av de omvÄrdnadsÄtgÀrder som kan utföras pÄ marsvin pÄ en djurklinik. Syftet blev dÀrmed att göra en sammanstÀllning baserad pÄ vetenskaplig litteratur som kan öka kompetensen hos blivande och yrkesverksamma djursjukskötare. OmvÄrdnadsÄtgÀrderna valdes utifrÄn den mÀngd vetenskaplig litteratur som gick att finna.
Resultatet visade att marsvinet pÄ mÄnga sÀtt Àr ett komplicerat djurslag att hantera inom djursjukvÄrden. Det har en speciell anatomi jÀmfört med andra gnagare och blir vÀldigt lÀtt stressat av mÄnga moment. Detta gör att personalen mÄste vara kompetent för att kunna erbjuda bÀsta möjliga vÄrd. Djursjukskötare mÄste ta hÀnsyn till marsvinets fysiologi, stor-lek, kroppsbyggnad och beteende för att kunna utforma optimal patientomvÄrdnad. Detta frÀmjar marsvinets vÀlmÄende samt ger diagnostiskt anvÀndbara resultat.
För mÄnga av omvÄrdnadsÄtgÀrderna krÀvs sÀrskild immobilisering eller positionering av marsvinet vilket krÀver noggrann förberedelse. DjurhÀlsopersonal mÄste Àven veta om mars-vinets tillstÄnd behöver stabiliseras innan vidare undersökning, alternativt om sedering eller narkos krÀvs inför en omvÄrdnadsÄtgÀrd. DÄ omvÄrdnad av detta djurslag kan vara relativt utmanande har författarna strÀvat efter att belysa hur den kan underlÀttas för patient sÄvÀl som för personal.
Författarna hade Àven en ambition att studera positiv beteendetrÀning som möjlighet att förbereda marsvin inför ett veterinÀrbesök. Positiv trÀning/förstÀrkning innebÀr att djuret belönas för korrekt utfört beteende. BeteendetrÀning har pÄvisats ha mÄnga fördelar för friska djurs vÀlfÀrd och bör dÀrmed ha en Ànnu större betydelse nÀr djuret blir sjukt. Vid sjukdom sker en stor miljöförÀndring med mÄnga frÀmmande intryck ur marsvinets perspek-tiv. Den stress som detta orsakar kan förebyggas med positiv beteendetrÀning vilket stöds av vetenskaplig litteratur med djuromvÄrdnad i fokus.
Slutligen har en diskussion förts om hur marsvinet som patient innebĂ€r vissa utmaningar men som med rĂ€tt kunskap blir lĂ€ttare att bemĂ€stra. Samtidigt har denna litteraturstudie pĂ„-visat ett behov av framtida forskning. OmvĂ„rdnad av marsvin bör granskas pĂ„ nytt och ut-vecklas i den riktning som vetenskapen visar.The interest and ownership of exotic species is increasing constantly and hence there is an increasing need of medical care suited for these species. Despite this, exotic animals are not mentioned a lot in the Swedish bachelorâs program in veterinary nursing. Guinea pigs are the second most popular exotic pet species and are commonly grouped together with other rodents in literature and studies. The lack of education of this species, along with the fact that this is a popular pet, gave the idea of making a compilation of some of the nursing procedures that may be performed in the veterinary practice. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to make a compilation based on scientific literature to increase the competence of veterinary nurses. The nursing procedures were chosen from what amount of literature was available on the subject.
The results showed that the guinea pig in many ways is a complicated animal to handle in the veterinary practice. It has a different anatomy compared to other rodents and is very easily stressed by many procedures performed in the clinic. It is therefore important that the personnel have the competence in order to give the best possible veterinary care. Many of the procedures require immobilization or a particular positioning of the guinea pig and this needs to be prepared thoroughly. Veterinarians and veterinary nurses must also know whether the state of the guinea pig must be stabilized prior to further examination, or if sedation or anesthesia is required before a procedure. As the care of guinea pigs often is quite challenging, the authors sought to illustrate how to facilitate this both for the patient and the personnel.
In addition, the authors had the ambition to study positive behavioral training as an opportunity to prepare guinea pigs for a veterinary visit. Positive training or positive reinforcement means that the animal is rewarded when performing correct behavior. Behavioral training has been shown to have many benefits for the welfare of healthy animals and should thus have an even greater importance when the animal becomes sick. In the case of illness, a major environmental change occurs with many foreign impressions from the guinea pigâs perspective. The stress that it causes can be prevented with positive behavioral training, which is supported by scientific literature with animal care in focus.
Lastly there has been a discussion as to how the guinea pig as a patient can cause certain challenges, but that these will be easier to overcome with the correct knowledge. This literature study also demonstrated the need of future research. The care and nursing of guinea pigs should be reviewed and further developed according to the results of science
The Swedish demand for food : a conditional Rotterdam model approach
The demand for food is susceptible to variation in several factors. Knowledge about the nature of food commodities and how consumers react are important for decision makers. The Swedish consumers have decreased the budget share spent on food commodities during the end of the 20th century (Eidstedt et al. 2009). The purpose of the study is therefore to analyze the Swedish demand for food over the period 1980-2011. By estimating price and expenditure elasticities for the Swedish consumers the nature of the demand can be found, allowing for analysis of how consumers react to changes in price and expenditure. A conditional Rotterdam demand system approach is used in order to find the elasticities. Testing of separable utility structures is also conducted in order to verify plausible structures for the Swedish consumers, which can be employed when constructing complete demand systems.
The estimated result was obtained maintaining the hypothesis of the laws of demand. Given the conditional approach, approximations of unconditional elasticities were computed. Both the unconditional and conditional own-price elasticities indicate that the Swedish demand is insensitive to price changes. The estimated conditional expenditure elasticities indicate a mixed result between luxury commodities and necessities (sensitive and insensitive commodities). The approximation of the unconditional expenditure elasticities does however indicate that the demand is insensitive to expenditure changes. The robustness of the expenditure elasticities is however uncertain given the problems of the Rotterdam approach, a more flexible functional form for the expenditure elasticities is desired.
For the separable utility structures, the hypothesizes that; meat can be weakly separable from other commodities, and the hypothesis that the demand can be weakly separable according to; animal, vegetable-based and beverage products, could not be rejected. This indicates that the verified structures can be incorporated in a complete demand system reducing the risk of misspecification
Using traffic data to estimate wildlife populations
Wildlife populations are threatened worldwide by, among others, habitat fragmentation and hunting pressure. An important impediment for the large scale, national and regional, management of the populations is the difficulty to quantify population dynamics. The purpose of this study is to present a tool for such estimations which is based on available data in several countries; traffic load and traffic accidents with wildlife. An econometric model is developed, which accounts for landscape characteristics. It is applied to wild boar in Sweden, for which data on traffic load and accidents for different counties and years are available. Landscape characteristics are introduced with direct or indirect effects on population growth. The indirect landscape model gives the best statistical performance, and the results show relatively small differences in calculated intrinsic growth rate among counties but considerable differences in predicted population developments
Estimating the marginal impact of large carnivores on the hunting value of roe deer
Hunting is an important recreational activity for large numbers of people. The roe deer is one of the most popular types of game in Sweden; however, recently the roe deer population has decreased. It is argued that this decrease is due to an increase in predator populations. The aim of this paper is to identify and compare the impact of lynxes and wolves on the hunting values of roe deer, taking into account that the impact depends on the hunting effort. The impact of the predators on the roe deer harvests is estimated econometrically, using a production function approach that accounts for the abundance of predators and the alternative prey, as well as the climatic conditions. The results show that the marginal cost of wolves is larger than that of additional lynx families in terms of their impact on the roe deer harvest values. The marginal costs of the predators vary with the hunter effort and the presence of alternative prey, which can have implications for policies affecting the regional allocation of the wolves and the lynxes
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