Tick infestation level interferes with spray formulation (organophosphate + pyrethroid) efficacy against Rhipicephalus microplus.

Due to the scarcity of information regarding the control of Rhipicephalus microplus on bovines with different tick burdens, tick counts and the efficacy of a commercial spray formulation (aspersion bath with organophosphate + pyrethroid) were evaluated for animals with a low and high tick burdens for 35 days in a stall test. Thirty-two crossbreed Bos taurus indicus x Bos t. taurus experimentally infested with R.

Comparison between the Mission Plus device and gold standard methods for measuring hemoglobin concentrations and packed cell volumes in cattle.

Background: A point-of-care device that can provide immediate and reliable hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations and packed cell volumes (PCVs) would be useful in veterinary medicine.

Objectives: We aimed to compare the use of a human device (Mission Plus; MP) with a gold standard (GS) method for measuring Hb concentrations and PCVs in cattle blood.

Methods: Blood samples from clinically healthy cattle (n = 122) were collected with or without an anticoagulant (K EDTA).

Critical assessment of enhancement factor measurements in surface-enhanced Raman scattering on different substrates.

The SERS enhancement factor (SERS-EF) is one of the most important parameters that characterizes the ability of a given substrate to enhance the Raman signal for SERS applications. The comparison of SERS intensities and SERS-EF values across different substrates is a common practice to unravel the performance of a given substrate. In this study, it is shown that such a comparison may lack significance if we compare substrates of very distinct nature and optical properties.

SERS performance of gold nanotubes obtained by sputtering onto polycarbonate track-etched membranes.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful and versatile tool for studying molecules on metallic surfaces with great impact on areas such as electrochemistry, catalysis and related subjects. The search for new SERS-active substrates with high performance, namely high enhancement factors and reproducibility, is currently the main focus of several research groups. Here is shown an alternative easy and inexpensive synthetic approach to a SERS-substrate comprised of gold nanotubes obtained by the sputtering onto polycarbonate track-etched membranes used as template.