Effect of footbath protocols for prevention and treatment of digital dermatitis in dairy cattle: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Digital dermatitis (DD) is an infectious bacterial disease affecting cattle feet. Footbaths are a common herd-level control method for DD; however, variations in product, concentration, and frequency of use complicate comparisons between protocols. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate all walk-through footbath protocols reported that determined efficacy for prevention and treatment of DD lesions in dairy cattle. An extensive literature search was conducted, including electronic databases and gray literature updated until March 2018. Studies identified included all liquid walk-through footbath protocols that were compared to other footbath protocols or no footbath. Only studies with treatment or prevention of DD lesions as an outcome were included. Literature search and subsequent screening identified 14 publications with 24 treatment comparisons and 24 prevention comparisons. Studies included mostly had low and/or unclear risks of bias. Descriptive analyses were performed according to prevention and treatment outcomes, with case and success definitions summarized as odds ratios (OR). A subsequent network meta-analysis was conducted of 11 studies, comparing 17 protocol comparisons for the prevention outcome and 10 studies comparing 19 protocol comparisons for the treatment outcome, using semi-informative priors in a Bayesian statistical framework. Results of a random effects Bayesian network meta-analysis indicated only 5% copper sulfate used at least 4 times/wk was superior to both no footbath (OR: 5.26; 95% CrI: 1.27-28.8) and a water placebo (OR: 9.47; 95% CrI: 1.03-85.8) in treatment of DD. No other protocol was associated with a reduction in DD, and there were no differences in pair-wise comparisons between any active treatments. Unfortunately, for both outcomes (treatment and prevention), small sample sizes (adjusted for clustering) limited the power to detect substantial differences between protocol effects. Thus, despite widespread use of footbaths, limited strength of evidence for use remains and standardized protocols with large sample sizes are needed to further investigate effectiveness of footbath protocols for control of DD. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Flavonol glycosides from Montcalm dark red kidney bean: implications for the genetics of seed coat color in Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Three flavonol glycosides were isolated and identified from the commercial dark red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivar Montcalm. In order of highest to lowest concentration these compounds were 3',4',5,7-tetrahydroxyflavonol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl (2-->1) O-beta-D-xylopyranoside (compound 1), quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (compound 2), and kaempferol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (compound 3). Compound 1 is a flavonol glycoside that has not been reported before in P. vulgaris L. These three flavonol glycosides were yellow compounds that do not contribute to the garnet red color of Montcalm seed coats. Red-colored compounds which tested positive for proanthocyanidins are most likely responsible for the red seed coat color of Montcalm. Previous work on the chemistry of the compounds produced from the multi-allelic seed coat gene series C-C(r)()-c(u) indicated that neither anthocyanins nor flavonol glycosides were detected from seed coat extracts in the presence of the c(u)() locus. However, the seed coat color genotype of Montcalm is c(u) J g B v rk(d) and three flavonol glycosides were found. Technological advances such as modern HPLC analysis of seed coat extracts may allow for detection of small amounts of compounds which previously could not be seen using paper chromatography. Alternatively, the change of the Rk allele to rk(d) may allow for the synthesis of flavonol glycosides in the presence of c(u).

Leakage of various types of luting agents.

Freshly extracted molar teeth were prepared for complete cast gold crowns cemented with either zinc phosphate cement, polycarboxylate cement, glass ionomer cement, a resin luting agent, or a zinc oxide-eugenol temporary cement. The specimens were tested at 1-, 6-, and 12-month intervals with radioactive 45Ca. The specimens were sectioned, autoradiographs were made, and the marginal leakage was evaluated on a scale of 0 to 3. The results showed that zinc phosphate, polycarboxylate, and glass ionomer cements are equally suited for permanent cementation of restorations. The resin luting agent showed high initial leakage, indicating that it is not as desirable for permanent cementation purposes. The zinc oxide-eugenol cement showed increased leakage with time but is well suited for its indicated purpose, temporary cementation.