Genetic background of juniper (Juniperus spp.) consumption predicted by fecal near-infrared spectroscopy in divergently selected goats raised in harsh rangeland environments.

Background: Junipers (Juniperus spp.) are woody native, invasive plants that have caused encroachment problems in the U.S.

Reliability of reports of childhood trauma in bipolar disorder: A test-retest study over 18 months.

This study aimed to explore the reliability of self-reported trauma histories in a population with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Previous studies in other populations suggest high reliability of trauma histories over time, and it was postulated that a similar high reliability would be demonstrated in this population. A total of 39 patients with a confirmed diagnosis (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, criteria) were followed up and readministered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire after 18 months.

Serologic and bacteriologic culture prevalence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection in goats and sheep and use of Bayesian analysis to determine value of assay results for prediction of future infection.

Objective: To determine the serologic and bacteriologic culture prevalence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection in sheep and goats and the value of such assays for prediction of future development of caseous lymphadenitis (CL).

Design: Observational study.

Animals: 919 goats and sheep in 3 herds in southwest Texas.

Extended scrapie incubation time in goats singly heterozygous for PRNP S146 or K222.

Scrapie is the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of sheep and goats, and scrapie eradication in sheep is based in part on strong genetic resistance to classical scrapie. Goats may serve as a scrapie reservoir, and to date there has been no experimental inoculation confirming strong genetic resistance in goats. Two prion protein variants (amino acid substitutions S146 and K222) in goats have been significantly underrepresented in scrapie cases though present in scrapie-exposed flocks, and have demonstrated low cell-free protein conversion efficiency to the disease form (PrP(D)).

Evaluation of homologous and heterologous protection induced by a virulent field strain of orf virus and an orf vaccine in goats.

Objective: To evaluate cross protection provided by administration of contagious ecthyma vaccines against strains of orf virus in goats.

Animals: 126 Boer-Spanish crossbred goats (3 to 20 days old).

Procedures: 85 goats were vaccinated with a goat-derived contagious ecthyma vaccine.

Capillary circular dichroism.

Circular dichroism (CD) has become an increasingly important tool in the study of biological molecules as it enables structural information to be obtained nondestructively on solution-phase samples. However, sample requirements for CD are often seen as being too high with protein backbone measurements in standard cuvettes typically requiring ∼100-300 μL of 0.1 mg/ml protein.

Prion gene (PRNP) haplotype variation in United States goat breeds (Open Access publication).

Scrapie eradication efforts cost 18 million dollars annually in the United States and rely heavily upon PRNP genotyping of sheep. Genetic resistance might reduce goat scrapie and limit the risk of goats serving as a scrapie reservoir, so PRNP coding sequences were examined from 446 goats of 10 breeds, 8 of which had not been previously examined at PRNP. The 10 observed alleles were all related to one of two central haplotypes by a single amino acid substitution.