We studied the form and content of the collection of veterinary anatomical wall charts maintained by the Laboratory of Veterinary Anatomy at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. The collection consists of 314 wall charts, of which 292 are hanging scrolls (mostly 80 cm ×100 cm), and the remainder paper posters (54 cm ×74 cm) or cardboard posters (65 cm ×94 cm). Among all 314 wall charts, 182 contain illustrations of macroscopic anatomy, including 63 of the equine locomotor system, and 46 contain illustrations of the histology or embryology. Another 83 are illustrations of the appearance and conformation, hooves, and shoes of horses, while the other three are of cattle. The wall charts are thought to have been created before World War Ⅱby an illustrator or illustrators who were working for the Laboratory. These findings show that in comparison with modern education, prior to World War Ⅱ, the emphasis in anatomy education was placed on equine locomotor anatomy, appearance, hooves, and shoes, which reflects the importance of horses for military and agricultural use in Japan at that time.

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A premature newborn Japanese Black Cattle calf showed astasia and sudden death within 24 hours, on Kohama Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on July 2007. Mannheimia spp. were isolated from the major organs in pure culture. M. haemolytica were initially identified according to the phenotypic characterization. The isolates were untypeable by indirect haemagglutination test with M. haemolytica serotype antisera. The strains identification was further confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis, and the isolates were finally identified as M. varigena. This is the first report of cattle septicemia associated with M. varigena in Japan.

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This study investigates vision and the time to consultation with veterinary clinics after the recognition of abnormalities by the owner in canine glaucomatous cases. A hundred-fifty eight dogs with 195 eyes diagnosed with glaucoma in the Triangle Animal Eye Clinic (TAEC) from 2006-2007 were investigated. Medical records were reviewed to calculate the time to consultation with a veterinary clinic and/or TAEC after the owner recognized abnormalities, and the rates of vision maintenance on consulting with TAEC were also computed. The time to consultation were divided into two groups, within three days and four days or more. Consultations were held with the veterinary clinic on 73.3% of glaucomatous cases within three days, while consultations on 26.7% of cases were held four days or more after abnormalities were recognized. Only 16.8% of the glaucomatous cases consulting with TEAC maintained their vision. However, 54.5% of cases visiting within three days kept their vision, whereas vision was only saved in 8.9% of cases that consulted four days or more after abnormali ties were recognized. These results differ from a past report on glaucomatous dogs and this study indicates that many glaucomatous dogs visit a veterinary hospital soon after their owners recognize abnormalities. In addition, we suspect that those cases possibly maintain their vision on consulting with a veterinary hospital.

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The sevoflurane-sparing effect of constant rate infusion (CRI) of lidocaine during surgery was evaluated in 52 dogs. All dogs were premedicated with an intravenous injection (Ⅳ) of propionyl-promazine (0.05 mg/kg) and subcutaneous injection of carprofen (4 mg/kg). Anesthesia was induced with propofol (6 mg/kg Ⅳ) and maintained with inhalation anesthesia using 50% nitrous oxide, 50% oxygen, and sevoflurane. Twenty-six dogs received lidocaine CRI (3 mg/kg/hr) during anesthesia (LID-CRI group) and the other 26 dogs did not (control group). The end-tidal concentration of sevoflurane required to maintain surgical anesthesia was significantly smaller in the LID-CRI group compared with the control group (1.6% vs 2.1%, P ＜0.001). There was no significant difference in the parameters of cardio-respiratory functions during anesthesia between the groups. In conclusion, lidocaine CRI provides a sevoflurane-sparing effect during surgery in dogs without apparent cardio-respiratory depression.

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This paper describes the clinical features and management of adenosquamous carcinomas developing in the larynx and orbit of two dogs. Case 1 showed signs of dysphonia and dyspnea caused by a mass within the vocal cord, and case 2 presented with clinical signs of the hyperlemia of the right-sided palpebral conjunctiva due to a mass occupying the right orbit. In both cases, histopathological examinations revealed that both neoplastic masses contained the elements of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, and these were diagnosed as adenosquamous carcinoma, respectively. Case 1 survives with a reduction in tumor size through chemotherapy, despite a recurrence. Case 2 continues to follow a favorable course without recurrence or metastasis.

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Outbreaks of shigellosis have been associated with traveling to areas with poor hygiene. However, the number of foodborne cases is increasing in industrialized countries. Since the infectious dose of Shigella spp. is as low as 10 cells, a rapid and sensitive method of detecting Shigella spp. in food is required. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW) released a detection protocol for Shigella spp. from oysters in 2002, but a number of problems with it, including low sensitivity and instability of results, have been identified. In this study, a new detection method was established based on the MHLW protocol with some modifications. We introduced mechanical stomaching instead of manual squeezing in the sample preparation step, a zirconia beads breakage procedure for DNA extraction in place of boiling, and real-time PCR instead of multiplex PCR. The results indicated that the new method had ten times the sensitivity of the MHLW protocol. Hence, we propose this sensitive and rapid real-time PCR based method to contribute to the improvement of Shigella spp. detection in food and assure food safety.

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