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Biomedical subjects

C J Gaskell

Publications and source records attributed to C J Gaskell.

66 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Non-neoplastic memmary hypertrophy in the cat associated either with pregnancy or with oral progestagen therapy.

Nine cases of mammary glandular hypertrophy in the cat are described. Three cases occurred in pregnant queens aged between six and eight months and one in an aged non-pregnant queen. The other cases were in neutered animals which had been treated with megestrol acetate for periods of between 14 months and five years. The pregnant queens were spayed and their mammae returned to normal; in the other cats the affected mammary glands were removed surgically. No recurrence occurred in seven cats in which adequate follow-up information was available. The importance of differentiating this benign lesion from mammary neoplasia is discussed.

Animals↗

Detection of transmissible gastroenteritis virus neutralising antibody in cats.

High titres of neutralizing activity to transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), a porcine coronavirus, were found in sera and peritoneal fluids from cats infected with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). A small proportion of cats, from a hospital population unaffected by FIP, also had neutralising activity. Procedures to remove non-specific viral inhibitors, including treatment by heat inactivation, trypsin, sulphydryl reagent and kaolin absorption were unsuccessful. The active component was unable to neutralise another porcine coronavirus, haemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus or the porcine enterovirus, Talfan. Gel filtration of feline sera and peritoneal fluid demonstrated high levels of the neutralising activity in the area corresponding to 7S IgG, which could be removed by absorption with specific anti-IgG serum and these properties are suggested to be consistent with those of antibody. These findings imply that there is a coronavirus in cats which is antigenically related to TGEV and its possible nature is discussed.

Animals↗

Spongy degeneration of the central nervous system in kittens.

The paper describes the clinical and morphological features of a congenital neurological disease affecting two in-bred litter-mate kittens. The principal neurological features were ataxia and dysmetria. In one of the kittens light microscopy revealed widespread vacuolation of white and grey matter of the brain and spinal cord. Electron microscopy revealved intra-myelinic vacuolation and some expansion of the extracellular space. Neuronal, axonal and glial changes were not seen, nor was there evidence of myelin breakdown. The entity is compared with congenital brain oedema of calves and spongy degeneration of the CNS in man.

Animals↗

Appraisal of teachers in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool.

In 1988, the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, introduced a system of teacher appraisal, following the report of a faculty working party. The system is designed to provide information which will help the personal development of teaching skills, and also to provide the information required by the university for promoting a lecturer to senior lecturer. It incorporates opinions from students, collected formally by means of questionnaires, and from personal peers chosen by the lecturer, and a self-appraisal record which forms the basis of an annual review from the head of department. Official peers, drawn from both the veterinary faculty and the department of education and extension studies, are trained and used in pairs, to assess and report on staff eligible for promotion. The system has been evaluated by a research assistant funded by the University Funding Council.

Education, Veterinary↗