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Biomedical subjects

H Kräusslich

Publications and source records attributed to H Kräusslich.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

[Veterinarians, and agriculture. Views of an agriculturist who taught at the veterinary school in Munich].

This article reflects on future developments in the relationship between farmer and veterinarian by an agricultural expert who lectured at Munich Veterinary Faculty from 1970 to 1993. The first chapter gives the reasons for the changes in this relationship over a period of 200 years. The present agricultural crisis is mainly caused by economic and social developments and by political decisions. The effects of these rapid developments on animal husbandry and veterinarians are discussed. History and new technologies in animal husbandry (for example micro electronics) lead to the thesis that the trend to larger and more specialised herds in family farms will continue. Assuming this thesis to be correct, veterinary herd health management and computerised health programmes will gain more importance in veterinary practice whereas therapy of individual animals will decrease.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1993

[Legal protection of industry and animal welfare--legal and ethical problems].

The first animal patent for the so called "Harvard-onco-mouse" has been widely discussed in the media and in public respectively. The opinion of veterinarians on animal patents should be based as far as possible on objective information, such as the legal situation and consideration of ethical discussion. The paper contains information on the following subjects: definition, aim and purpose of patents, patentability of microorganisms and genes, animal patents, animal rights and patents, ethics and animal patents.

Animal Welfare↗
PubMed1991

Effect of recombinant bovine somatotropin (BST) on physiological parameters and on milk production in German Fleckvieh cows.

The efficacy of injecting primiparous cows of a dual purpose breed (Deutsches Fleckvieh) with a BST prolonged release formulation (500 mg Sometribove s.c.) was tested in a cross-over design. Seven cows were given 500 mg BST in the 10th through 19th week of lactation and a placebo in the 24th through 33rd week. A second group of seven cows received a placebo in the 10th through 19th week and BST in the 24th through 33rd week. Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein (via a permanent cannula) in the 13th, 17th, 23rd, 27th and 31st week of lactation over a period of 24 hrs at 30 min intervals. During the periods of BST treatment the amount of FCM (amount of milk corrected to 4% fat content) was higher in treated than in non-treated animals by 3.6 kg (19.8%) and 3.2 kg (22.5%) respectively. Milk fat levels were elevated significantly during both treatment periods. Milk protein concentration showed a significant rise during the second half of lactation only. There was no influence on lactose content. Blood concentration of somatotropin and IGF-I rose during treatment by a factor of 3-4. Insulin, T3, T4 and FTI as well as glucose, urea and GOT showed no changes or changes within physiological ranges. Free fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyrate rose during treatment.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

[Analysis of environmentally-conditioned and genetic influences on the frequency of hip joint dysplasia in German Shepherd dogs].

The importance of environmental and genetic influences on the frequency of hip dysplasia was studied in 10,595 German shepherd dogs. Systematic effects were analysed using mixed linear and mixed nonlinear threshold models. Following effects were regarded in the models applied: sire and mother of the dog as random effects, age at x-raying, sex, birth year and season of the x-rayed dogs, litter size, percentage of x-rayed dogs in each litter and sex ratio of the litter as fixed effects. Sire, mother, sex and age at x-raying showed significant influence on the occurrence of hip dysplasia. The heritability estimates in a hierarchical data design (sire, mother within sire) for the polychotomous trait hip dysplasia were for full sibs h2 = 0.30, for maternal half sibs h2 = 0, 48, and for paternal half sibs h2 = 0.11. Only the heritability estimates of the paternal half sibs seem to be reliable because kennel and breeder effects are confounded with the mother effect. Analysing the frequency of hip dysplasia as all-or-none traits, the heritability estimates were usually lowered by 50%. Selection programmes to reduce frequency of hip dysplasia can be improved if the estimation of breeding values with respect to environmental effects and frequency of hip dysplasia in all relatives will be implemented.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1991

[Heritability of strabismus convergens with exophthalmos in cattle].

Six pedigrees including 107 animals of the breed German Brown Swiss were available to test for a single gene conditioning for convergent strabismus with exophthalmus. The regressive logit models of the segregation analysis showed that a major gene model with additively acting genes explained the segregation of affected animals in the pedigrees in the best way. Additionally, polygenic and environmental effects might be of importance in the occurrence of convergent strabismus with exophthalmus.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Computer-assisted analysis of pressure distribution on cattle claws].

A newly developed measuring device was applied to quantify in 5 first and 5 second lactation cows of the breed German Black and White the pressure distribution underneath the claws of one front limb. The pressure distribution of cows was recorded five times in intervals of four weeks. At each measuring date each had to undergo three tests. Procedures for image processing were applied in analysis of pressure distributions. The average pressure per sqcm was about 19 N, the maximum pressure measured was 59 N per sqcm in first lactating cows and 56 N per sqcm in second lactation cows. Factors were developed which characterize the patterns of pressure distributions. Especially the "gradient factor" seems to be well suited to recognize inhomogeneous pressure distributions.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Effect of the composition of the ration during the dry period on fertility and milk production of Holstein cows in Israel].

In each for of kibbutzin herds located in Israel the dry cows were divided in two feeding groups. The experimental group, in totally 266 cows, obtained only oat, barley or wheat hay ad libitum, whereas the control group (n = 253) was fed additionally mix or silage up to four kg dry matter. The cows in the control group responded in the following lactation with a 1.3 kg higher average FCM per day (p = 0.02) and with a 1.7 kg higher maximum FCM (p = 0.01) in comparison to the experimental group. The differences between the experimental and control group in A. I.-parameters days open, conception rate on first insemination and percent problem cows were rather small. However, the frequency of retained placenta and ovary cysts was significantly (p less than 0.05) higher in the control group than in the experimental group. In one herd the influence of body condition between the end of lactation, dry period and 50-80 days p.p. as well as the change of body weight between the end of lactation and calving on milk production and fertility could be evaluated. A decrease of one body condition score unit between the dry period and 50-80 days p.p. was associated with an increase of FCM by 2.01 kg (p less than 0.01), a decrease of the conception rate by 21% (p less than 0.05) and an elongation of the days open by 23.6 days (p less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1986

An approach to successful freezing of demi-embryos derived from day-7 bovine embryos.

The developmental capacity of frozen/thawed bisected embryos (n = 33) derived from day-7 bovine embryos was investigated and compared to ordinary embryos after freezing and thawing (n = 28) and to freshly bisected embryos (n = 19). The freezing and thawing protocol was identical for ordinary and demi-embryos. The percentage of intact embryos classified as excellent, good, or poor after thawing was 92.9 and 96.3% for ordinary and demi-embryos, respectively. Pregnancy rates of 53.8 (8 15 ), 46.2 (6 13 ), and 47.5% (9 19 ) were obtained when frozen/thawed ordinary embryos and frozen/thawed demi-embryos classified as excellent or good and sealed with an additional zona pellucida from hatched pig blastocysts or freshly bisected embryos were transferred. One pair of identical twins resulted from the transfer of frozen/thawed demi-embryos sealed with an additional zona pellucida. Transfer of four frozen/thawed demi-embryos without an additional zona pellucida led to one pregnancy. In contrast, demi-embryos derived from frozen/thawed ordinary embryos (n = 8) as well as frozen/thawed demi-embryos classified as poor (n = 6) did not result in any pregnancies although two halves were transferred per recipient. It is concluded that sealing the punctured zona pellucida improves the developmental capacity of frozen/thawed demi-embryos derived from day-7 bovine embryos, and freezing demi-embryos is more efficient compared to the splitting of frozen/thawed ordinary embryos.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1985

[Production of chimeras by embryo microsurgery and their possible application in cattle breeding].

An important contribution to genetic and embryonic engineering in mammalian embryos is the production of chimeric mammals. Chimeras can be produced by aggregating the blastomeres of two different embryos to make a single individual. A method is described to produce bovine chimeras by aggregating non-surgically collected embryos of different breeds and transferring the aggregated embryos nonsurgically to synchronised recipients. An overt chimeric bull calf (Holstein-Friesian and Brown-Swiss) was born on March 31st, 1984. Chimeras have many uses in research, but one practical use is to rescue defective embryos that would not develop to term on their own. Such embryos can be aggregated with normal blastomeres to produce a chimera. Some of the initially defective cells can even become part of the germ line in the chimera and give rise to perfectly normal eggs or sperm. Two models for using this technique in cattle research are described. The lethal disorder arachnomelie has a rather high frequency in some German Brown-Swiss populations. Chimeric calves developing from embryos descending of carrier matings could help to find out the genetic and developmental background of this disorder. Chimeras produced of transgenic teratocarcinoma cell lines and normal embryos offer one possibility to produce transgenic cattle. The advantages and disadvantages of these possibilities are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Possibilities and limits of breeding for immune responsiveness.

Studies on defence mechanisms in mice and farm animals are demonstrated. The results indicate that selective breeding might become a more important tool in disease control. But intensive research work is required before a "General Disease Resistance Index" can be used in animal breeding. More common efforts of research workers in veterinary medicine and animal breeding are necessary.

Animals↗