Prospective Study of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus and Bluetongue Virus Transmission in Captive Ruminants.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) cause hemorrhagic disease (HD) in wild ruminants and bluetongue disease (BT) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) in livestock. These viruses are transmitted by biting midges in the genus Culicoides (family Ceratopogonidae). Mortality from this disease can reach 90% in certain breeds of sheep and in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

POSTMORTEM DETECTION OF BLUETONGUE AND EPIZOOTIC HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE VIRUSES IN THE BONE MARROW OF WHITE-TAILED DEER ().

We determined the temporal aspects of detecting bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) in postmortem bone marrow samples of white-tailed deer () using molecular and in vitro cell culture techniques. Bone marrow samples from carcasses were collected and assayed on the day of death and at intervals up to 16 wk after death. We recovered BTV and EHDV from fresh bone marrow collected at day 0 by isolation in Vero and BHK-21 cell cultures.

Discovery of the Rdl mutation in association with a cyclodiene resistant population of horn flies, Haematobia irritans (Diptera: Muscidae).

The horn fly, Haematobia irritans irritans, is an obligate blood-feeding parasite of cattle that causes significant economic impact in many countries. We investigated the resistance of a horn fly population from Louisiana/USA to endosulfan, a cyclodiene insecticide. Bioassays were performed in 2010 and 2011 in order to determine the resistance ratio of the population to endosulfan and a PCR assay was developed to detect the Rdl mutation which is the replacement of an alanine with a serine at the GABA receptor locus that has been associated with resistance to cyclodienes in other insect species.

Qualification of an automated device to objectively assess the effect of hair care products on hair shine.

The authors developed and qualified an automated routine screening tool to quantify hair shine. This tool is able to separately record individual properties of hair shine such as specular reflection and multiple reflection, as well as additional features such as sparkle, parallelism of hair fibers, and hair color, which strongly affect the subjective ranking by individual readers. A side-by-side comparison of different hair care and styling products with regard to hair shine using the automated screening tool in parallel with standard panel assessment showed that the automated system provides an almost identical ranking and the same statistical significances as the panel assessment.