Evaluation of milk components as diagnostic indicators for rumen indigestion in dairy cows.

OBJECTIVE To identify milk component alterations that might be useful for detecting cows with rumen indigestion. DESIGN Prospective case-control study. ANIMALS 23 Holstein cows with rumen indigestion (cases) and 33 healthy cohorts (controls) from 1 herd.

Clinical evaluation of long-term safety and effectiveness of a third-generation thermal uterine balloon therapy system for heavy menstrual bleeding.

Study Objectives: To estimate the incidence of amenorrhea at 36 months after treatment using a third-generation thermal uterine balloon therapy (UBT) system and to compare it with the first-generation UBT system. The secondary objective was to estimate the effect of post-procedure curettage on patient outcomes at 36 months after endometrial ablation.

Design: Multicenter controlled study (Canadian Task Force classification I).

Association between ecological factors and the presence of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus larvae in Puerto Rico.

A prevalence study was conducted to survey tick larvae populations in Puerto Rico (PR), compare the number of infested sites with Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus larvae between the wet and dry season, and assess the associations of ecologic factors on the presence of R. microplus larvae. Ninety-six sites were selected using a GIS-based sampling method.

Diagnostic accuracy of methods for detecting Anaplasma marginale infection in lactating dairy cattle of Puerto Rico.

Bovine anaplasmosis (BA) is a hemoparasitic disease of great importance in cattle within the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Control programs for BA require accurate diagnostic assays but validation can be challenging because the true disease status of all animals is frequently not known with certainty. The objective of this study was to estimate the accuracy of assays for detection of Anaplasma marginale infection in lactating dairy cattle of Puerto Rico using Bayesian methods without a perfect reference test.

Clinical evaluation of a third-generation thermal uterine balloon therapy system for menorrhagia coupled with curettage.

Study Objectives: To estimate the incidence of amenorrhea 12 months after treatment with a third-generation thermal uterine balloon therapy (UBT) system. Secondary objectives were to compare the incidence of amenorrhea observed with this third-generation system with that of a first-generation system, to estimate the effect of postprocedure curettage on patient outcome, and to evaluate the workings of this new system.

Design: Multicenter, controlled study (Canadian Task Force classification I).

Surgical research publication in a selection of research and surgical specialty journals.

Background: A prior study revealed a paucity of surgical research in the 5 top-rated general surgery journals for 1998. The hypothesis of the current study was that a large amount of surgical research was published in other journals.

Methods: In all, 15 research journals and 9 surgery specialty journals were reviewed for basic research, funded clinical studies, randomized clinical trials, and drug trials.

Field evaluation of a Mycoplasma bovis bacterin in young dairy calves.

Mycoplasma bovis is an important cause of pneumonia, otitis media and arthritis in young dairy calves, and there is a critical need for improved preventative strategies for this pathogen. We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded field trial to determine the efficacy of a commercial M. bovis vaccine for the prevention of M.

Mycoplasma bovis Infections in young calves.

Mycoplasma bovis has emerged as an important pathogen of young intensively reared calves in North America. A variety of clinical diseases are associated with M bovis infections of calves, including respiratory disease, otitis media, arthritis, and some less common presentations. Clinical disease associated with M bovis often is chronic, debilitating, and poorly responsive to antimicrobial therapy.

Biosecurity and risk management for dairy replacements.

Biosecurity, biocontainment, and disease risk management on dairy replacement operations are time- and labor-intensive, planned programs. Oftentimes the value of these programs is realized only after disease is introduced to a facility or a disease outbreak occurs. There is no "one-plan-fits-all;" each plan must be tailored to meet the needs of management's goals and expectations and problems specific to a production enterprise or geographic region.

Effect of administration of a controlled-release monensin capsule on incidence of calving-related disorders, fertility, and milk yield in dairy cows.

Objective: To determine the effect of a controlled-release monensin capsule administered at cessation of lactation on incidence of calving-related disorders, fertility, and milk yield in dairy cows.

Animals: 290 dairy cows treated with monensin and 290 untreated control cows.

Procedure: Treated cows received a capsule that released monensin at 335 mg/d for 95 days.

Richard Lower, M.D., physician and surgeon (1631-1691).

Richard Lower (1631-1691) was a follower of William Harvey and conducted extensive studies of the physiology of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. He employed surgery as a key component of his experimental work. He described and employed cardiac massage and maintained arterial oxygenation through positive-pressure respiration.

Plasma mineral and energy metabolite concentrations in dairy cows fed an anionic prepartum diet that did or did not have retained fetal membranes after parturition.

Objective: To compare plasma total calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), beta hydroxy butyrate (BHB), and glucose concentrations in parturient dairy cows that were fed an anionic prepartum diet between those with and without retained fetal membranes (RFM) at 24 hours after parturition.

Animals: 152 Holstein cows that calved during October through December of 1997

Procedure: All cows were fed an anionic prepartum diet. Blood sample was taken within 6 hours after parturition from randomly selected cows.

Exploratory celiotomy in 1474 AD: brief case report.

In 1474 ad a prisoner in Paris underwent an exploratory celiotomy to ascertain the cause of abdominal "colic." The patient recovered.

Hypomagnesemia among cows in a confinement-housed dairy herd.

Between January and March 2002, 55 cows in a 1,200-cow commercial dairy herd in south Florida died. Most of the cows that were found dead did not have any clinical signs of disease prior to death. Because of a history of a feed change, a bloom of blue-green algae in cow cooling ponds, and initial necropsy findings of moderate enteritis, the preliminary differential diagnosis included clostridial enteritis, blue-green algae toxicosis, and mycotoxicosis.

Epidemiology of Tritrichomonas foetus in beef bull populations in Florida.

The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of herd and individual bull infection with Tritrichomonas foetus in a survey of beef bulls in the state of Florida and to perform an epidemiological investigation of risk factors for the disease. Bulls were tested for T. foetus colonization by a single preputial scraping and culture.

Factors associated with first service conception in artificially inseminated nulliparous Holstein heifers.

Animal and management factors associated with first service conception in nulliparous dairy heifers were determined in 601 Holstein heifers from a dairy farm in north central Florida. Animal data collected included body weight, height at the withers and tail head, body condition score at 6 months of age and just prior to first artificial insemination (AI), and pelvimetry measurements taken just prior to first AI. Management data included season of first AI, inseminator, service sire, method of estrus detection, whether the estrus of first insemination was induced using prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)), and whether the heifer received a modified live virus (MLV) vaccine within 21 days of first insemination.

Risk of abortion associated with Neospora caninum during different lactations and evidence of congenital transmission in dairy cows.

Objective: To examine the relationship between exposure to Neospora caninum and abortion in dairy cows during their first, second, third, and fourth or later lactations and to establish the main mode of transmission in female calves from birth until their first pregnancy was terminated by abortion or parturition.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Animals: 460 Holstein cows and 79 female calves.