Swine dysentery (SD) is a severe mucohaemorrhagic colitis resulting from infection with the anaerobic spirochaetal bacterium, Serpulina hyodysenteriae. The disease affects weaner and grower pigs throughout the world, and causes significant financial losses due to mortality, decreased rate of growth, poor feed conversion, and expense of chemotherapy. Previous studies have shown that despite the presence of S. hyodysenteriae in pigs on many farms, clinical signs of SD do not always occur. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of diet on the clinical expression of SD. The ultimate aim was to identify diets that could be used to prevent or control the disease. One hundred and seventy-eight weaner pigs were purchased from specific-pathogen free farms and fed one of 16 diets based on: cooked riceanimal protein, cooked rice-dehulled lupin, wheat-lupin, wheat-animal protein, parboiled rice dehulled lupin, parboiled rice-animal protein, and processed (hammer-milled or steam-flaked) cereal grains (barley, groats, maize, sorghum and wheat) supplemented with animal protein. Eighty four pigs on these diets were slaughtered after one month to measure the influence of the diets on parameters in the large intestine, including organ sizes, and pH, VFA concentrations and dry matter content of the digesta in the caecum, and proximal and distal colon. The cooked rice-animal protein diet caused low levels of microbial fermentation in the large intestine of pigs as indicated by higher pH values, lower VFAs, smaller intestinal organ sizes, and drier contents in the colon and rectum, compared to pigs on the other diets. A limited amount of fermentative substrates from the cooked rice-animal protein diet entered the large intestine, and this led to a low microbial fermentation activity. Pigs fed diets containing cereal grains, parboiled rice and or dehulled lupins had greater fermentative activity in the large intestine. Parboiled rice unexpectedly was not easily digestible. Of the processed cereal grain diets, steam-flaked grains resulted in significantly higher (P<0.05) intestinal pH values than hammer-milled grains. This suggested that steam-flaking process made the nutrients (most likely starch) more available for digestion in the small intestine than did the hammer-milling process. Another 94 pigs fed on the various diets were orally challenged with broth cultures of S, hyodysenteriae and were monitored for faecal excretion of spirochaetes, and for the development of SD. Diseased pigs were slaughtered immediately, and healthy pigs were slaughtered after 4-6 weeks, and changes in the large intestine were recorded. None of 16 challenged pigs fed cooked rice-animal protein developed SD and it was assumed that the reduced fermentation with this diet inhibited colonisation by S. hyodysenteriae, and expression of SD. Disease occurred in varying numbers of pigs fed all the other diets, for example cooked rice-dehulled lupin (83.3%), wheat-dehulled lupin (62.5%) and wheat-animal protein (60%). The diseased pigs developed diarrhoea with blood and mucus, were depressed, lacked appetite and showed gross and microscopic evidence of severe mucohaemorrhagic colitis. When two pigs fed the protective cooked rice-animal protein diet were transferred to the wheat-dehulled lupin diet, one died of acute clostridial enterotoxaemia, whilst the other developed SD. This provided further evidence for the protective effect of the cooked rice-animal protein diet. Of the processed cereal grain types, steam-flaked maize and steam-flaked sorghum diets containing animal protein protected all pigs against SD, although small numbers of animals were used. All cereal-based diets resulted in greater fermentation than the cooked rice-animal protein diets, but fermentation was relatively reduced with steam flaked maize. The protective rice-animal protein diet was fed to pigs on a commercial piggery with SD. It resulted in good growth rate and carcass composition, but unfortunately no disease occurred amongst the control pigs during the experiment, so its efficacy against SD in the field could not be assessed. In conclusion, all protective diets were based on cooked cereal grains which had low levels of non-starch polysaccharides and resistant starch (cooked rice, steam-flaked maize and steam-flaked sorghum) and animal protein. It appears that reducing the availability of such fermentable substrate in the large intestine prevents colonisation by S. hyodysenteriae, and protects pigs from developing SD. This is a major new paradigm for the control of this important disease.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1963. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-168).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-255).

This study was undertaken to assess factors contributing to difference in nutritional status of patients at high risk for malnutrition. Twenty-five patients hospitalized for treatment of cancer and other disorders and for surgery were assessed using anthropometric, biochemical and dietary measures.Significant malnutrition was found. Males, as compared with females, had lower percent triceps skinfold, percent weight-for-height, percent hemoglobin, decreased appetites and total iron binding capacity. Mean total iron binding capacity for males was 62 percent of normal suggesting acute malnutrition similar to kwashiorkor. Cancer patients had lower total lymphocyte counts than those with other diagnosis. Patients hospitalized more than 23 days showed evidence of marasmus, with lower percent mid-arm muscle circumference, percent hematocrit, percent hemoglobin and a tendency for decreased weight/height than those hospitalized for a short time. Compared with patients with good appetites, those experiencing poor appetites had increased caloric and protein needs but lower protein intake compared to needs and lower creatinine-height-index.Five subjects with decreased weight/height had lower total iron binding capacity. The mean was 61 percent of normal indication severe depletion. The mid-arm muscle circumference was 82 percent of normal suggesting acute malnutrition imposed upon compromised somatic protein stores. Nine subjects showed evidence of frank kwashiorkor, three other subjects experienced marasmic-kwashiokor indication acute malnutrition imposed upon chronic malnutrition.In conclusion, this study suggests several characteristic features of hospitalized patients at risk for malnutrition: hospitalization for over three weeks, inadequate caloric and protein intake relation to need and anorexia. These patients are candidates for nutritional assessment and support.

No description available.

No description available.

In this study two methods of nutritional assessment were compared by evaluating the attitudes of health professionals concerning usefulness of the procedure and by determining the accuracy of diagnoses and time involved using the methods. The two procedures of assessment were the traditional "eye-ball" or observation method and a written method involving laboratory and anthropometric measurements. Thirty-eight persons, including physicians, nurses, dietitians, a medical school instructor, and students of related disciplines, were the subjects of this study.In addition to being more up to date, the subjects felt the written method was significantly more useful than the traditional method in terms of accuracy, organization, logical order, preciseness, value, understandability, use of form, and completeness. The traditional method was found to be more appealing to the subjects in terms of time saved, ease of use, and simplicity. The traditional method was found to be much quicker to complete but the written method was found to give significantly more correct diagnoses. In conclusion, the written method was found to be significantly more useful due to its logical approach to diagnosing the nutritional status of the hospitalized patients; however, its use would be curtailed due to the amount of time required to complete the procedure unless protocol were established whereby some other member of the health care team could take the responsibility for completing the procedure, thus relieving thephysician of the duty.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 2008. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2008. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-65). Also available via the Internet.